German Chancellor Friedrich Merz today sent a clear message to European allies during the Munich Security Conference that the old world order “no longer exists” and has been replaced by a much more uncertain environment shaped by great power rivalry and a renewed focus on national interests, DPA reported.
More than 50 world leaders and other high-ranking representatives, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are gathering at the luxury Bayerischer Hof hotel. Among them are the President Iliana Yotova and the resigned Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
Founded more than 60 years ago, the Munich Security Conference serves as a reflection of all the turmoil in the world. In 2007, Vladimir Putin’s speech with his harsh words marked the rift between Russia and the Western world, foreshadowing the wars that would follow – in Georgia in 2008, and then in Ukraine in 2014 and 2022. At the time, few European leaders realized the seriousness of the threat, recalls the French “Figaro”.
Last year, during the Munich conference, US Vice President JD Vance announced a rift in transatlantic relations, sharply attacking liberal Europe, which he said was guilty of not respecting freedom of expression and allowing itself to be inundated with migrants, risking the destruction of its own civilization. His words left the Europeans in shock.
In his opening conference speech in Munich today, which has become a wake-up call for Europe, Merz warned that the international order “based on rights and rules” no longer exists. “That order, however imperfect it was even in its best days, no longer exists,” he said. “We have crossed the threshold of an era that is once again characterized openly by the politics of power and great powers”Mertz said.
In his words, the “brightest expression” of this new reality is Russia’s war against Ukraine. He also criticized China, saying the world’s second-largest economy “systematically exploits the dependence of others”. “It is reimagining the international order to suit its own purposes,” he said of Beijing’s strategy.
“If there was a unipolar moment after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is long gone. America’s claim to leadership has been challenged, perhaps even lost.”
Friedrich Merz said there was a “rift” between the US and Europe and that a new transatlantic partnership had to be built. Mertz made a clear distinction between the political directions of Europe and the United States, stating that “the culture war of the MAGA movement is not ours”.
He also rejected tariffs and protectionism in favor of free trade and reaffirmed his support for climate agreements and the World Health Organization because “we are convinced that only together can we solve global challenges.”
“We want to establish a new transatlantic partnership,” Mertz said: “In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be strong enough to act alone. NATO membership is a competitive advantage not only for Europe. It is a competitive advantage for the United States as well. So let us together restore and revive transatlantic trust. Europe is doing its part.”urged Mertz.
He said that Russia unlikely to end war on Ukraine until exhausted ‘economically and potentially militarily’DPA reported.
“We are approaching that moment,” he told world leaders and senior politicians at the Munich Security Conference. Mertz added that Kiev’s Western allies must “do whatever it takes” to bring Russia to the point where it no longer sees the benefit of continuing “this terrible war”. “We’re not there yet,” he stressed.
Mertz also said Russia showed no desire to “engage seriously” in peace talks to end the war, which will enter its fifth year this month.
The German chancellor also used unusually sharp language to criticize Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his trip to Moscow and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There is someone in the EU, a prime minister, who travels to Moscow alone,” Merz said, without mentioning Orbán by name.
“He has no mandate. He has achieved nothing,” the German chancellor noted, adding that “a week later we saw the worst attacks we had seen so far, against civilian infrastructure, private homes and hospitals.”
The Hungarian Prime Minister traveled to Moscow in July 2024, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, DPA notes.
Mertz and Macron hold ‘confidential talks’ on European nuclear deterrence
Friedrich Merz today confirmed in Munich that he is holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron regarding European nuclear deterrence, DPA reported.
“I have started confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence”Mertz said.
The chancellor said Berlin would stick to its legal commitments, referring to the 1990 international agreement on German reunification.
In the agreement, a united Germany pledged to renounce the production, possession and control of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Under NATO’s existing nuclear sharing agreement, US nuclear weapons stationed in Europe can be used by allied aircraft in emergencies.
American B61 nuclear bombs are believed to be located in northern Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany.
However, calls for the creation of a European nuclear umbrella have gained momentum again after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the change in the course of American foreign policy under the leadership of President Donald Trump.
Following Britain’s exit from the EU, France remained the bloc’s only nuclear-armed country.
Macron first proposed negotiating with Germany and other EU countries to extend the French nuclear umbrella in 2020, but his overture was rebuffed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor, Olaf Scholz.
Mertz appears to be more open to discussions on the topic with Macron and sees the French proposal as an addition to the joint-sharing agreement within NATO.
date:2026-02-13 14:52:00
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