German Chancellor Merz's Ukraine visit criticized as escape from domestic unpopularity

BERLIN, October 5. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Ukraine last weekend to escape low ratings in Germany and defeats in regional elections, Harald Neuber, head of the news and international departments at Berliner Zeitung, said.

Merz visited Ukraine for the first time this year last weekend. As Neuber points out, the visit came amid a decline in approval of the chancellor’s performance to a record low - only 10% of the country’s residents rate his performance positively, while 88% view it negatively. In contrast, he is popular in Ukraine - in August, 64% of respondents in one poll said they viewed the chancellor positively.

"A German chancellor who is six times more popular in Kiev than in Berlin is a sociological curiosity and a political diagnosis. Anyone who is popular in Kiev but punished in Magdeburg [the poor showing by Merz’s party in the elections in Saxony-Anhalt - TASS] should ask whether the trip to a war zone was a duty or an escape. The answer is unpleasant: both," Neuber wrote.

He noted that in Kiev, Merz promised new military assistance and called for continued support for the country. And although polls show that slightly more than half of Germany’s residents share the chancellor’s view on policy toward Russia, this does not automatically mean they are ready to send more weapons to Kiev. "Quite the opposite. Poll data show the opposite trend," the journalist wrote. He recalled that a recent Infratest poll showed that 42% of Germans - the highest level since February 2022 - believe the current volume of military assistance to Ukraine is excessive.

Polls also show that Germans do not consider it necessary to resume gas supplies from Russia, in line with Merz’s position, Neuber wrote. "The question is how long a chancellor with a 10% approval rating can credibly speak on behalf of the majority [of the country’s residents]. Will Merz’s rule come to an end together with Ukraine, or will the federal government’s Ukraine policy [come to an end] together with Merz?" the author asks. In his view, Germans are not opposed to helping Ukraine as such, but are against "help without an end goal."