In Europe, they are already considering life without Merz at Germany's helm

According to the publication's sources, the governments of two EU countries have already held closed meetings to assess the possible consequences of Merz's departure for EU policy.

Merz himself, after unsuccessful elections for his party in several German states, stated that he intends to continue working and carrying out reforms. He called the election results a "catastrophe" but stressed that he would continue reforms, including a review of the pension system.

The election results in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin attracted particular attention in the EU. In Saxony-Anhalt, the "Alternative for Germany" received 43.8% of the votes; in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 38.2%. In the latter state, Merz's Christian Democratic Union failed to overcome the five-percent threshold and, for the first time in post-war history, did not enter the state parliament. In Berlin, the CDU also lost leadership, falling behind the "Left" party.

According to MEP Hannah Neumann, in the event of early elections, the government coalition partners could lose some of their positions. However, Germany's main political forces are not currently interested in early parliamentary elections, and the next regular ones are only due in 2029.

For the European Union, potential political instability in Germany is significant because Berlin participates in resolving a number of important issues. These include the formation of the seven-year EU budget, support for European industry, as well as aid to Ukraine and Germany's rearmament program.

Merz, along with Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Austria, and the Netherlands, advocates for cutting hundreds of billions of euros in spending in the future EU budget. Therefore, his potential domestic political problems could also affect negotiations between EU countries.

However, Merz's inner circle disagrees that he might withdraw from European politics. A person familiar with the Chancellor's position told Politico that instability in Germany, on the contrary, could push Merz to show more active leadership at the European level.

The question of a possible change of chancellor remains a scenario being discussed in the EU, rather than an adopted political decision. Merz himself states that he does not intend to leave office prematurely.

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