German Opposition MP Criticizes Chancellor Merz's Focus on Ukraine Over Domestic Issues

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is caring more for Ukraine than his own nation, an opposition MP, Marcus Frohnmaier, told Rick Sanchez on the latest episode of Sanchez Effect aired on Wednesday.

The government has neglected the ongoing competitiveness and energy crisis in Germany while directing billions of euros in aid to Kiev, according to the lawmaker from the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Merz “is the chancellor of Ukraine and not the chancellor of Germany,” Frohnmaier stated.

Merz, who came to power in 2025 following a snap election, has become the least popular German chancellor in decades in less than two years since taking office. A total of 84% of Germans were dissatisfied with his performance, including more than half of his own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party supporters, according to an ARD-DeutschlandTrend poll published earlier this month.

According to Frohnmaier, Merz either reneged upon or failed to deliver on almost all his campaign promises. The chancellor “promised people to [build] a strong economy, to make Germany safe again, and so on, and he failed,” said the MP, who represents the nation’s most popular party, according to the polls.

The lawmaker also argued that the Merz government outright ignored the most pressing issues faced by the nation. “German companies [are] leaving the country, they’re going to Poland, they’re going to the US,” he said, adding that those that are “not big enough” just go “bankrupt.” Frohnmaier blamed it on high energy costs and excessive regulation and taxes.

The German economy did take a hit in the wake of the Ukraine conflict escalation in 2022 – partly due to Berlin’s decision to abandon cheap Russian energy imports in line with the EU sanctions imposed against Moscow. Before Germany’s decision to de facto impose a Russian energy embargo upon itself, Moscow supplied 55% of the country’s natural gas imports.

Merz himself admitted earlier this month that the nation’s “ongoing energy crisis [was] due to the lack of Russian gas” but suggested no way out of it. Earlier, he also repeatedly blamed Germany’s economic troubles on its people by telling Germans to work more and claiming that the “welfare state as we have it today can no longer be financed.”

At the same time, he actively pushed for a massive military spending increase, vowing to make the German army the strongest conventional force in Europe, with his government also repeatedly pledging more support for Ukraine amid plans to cut social spending.

According to Frohnmaier, the current chancellor’s story is that “of incompetence.” “I think this guy is not able to be a head of a government and to take responsibility,” the MP said.