Friedrich Merz asks "How do we safeguard our freedom" in Europe amid extremism, foreign threats
“How do we safeguard our freedom and our security in Europe, in the face of growing threats from extremists within and foreign powers from without?”
Reported October 24, 2026 by thefrontierpost.com. Checked word for word against that report.
At a Saturday conference of the Bavarian Christian Social Union, the CDU’s sister party, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged his fractious governing alliance to unite and framed European security as a central challenge, citing domestic political extremism and what he said were constant Russian attempts to weaken Germany; Moscow rejects that accusation. The remarks followed regional election losses in eastern Germany, where the far-right Alternative for Germany placed first in two states and the far-left Left Party led in Berlin, and came amid historic-low approval for Merz plus friction inside the coalition and between the CDU and CSU. He rejected conservative cooperation with the AfD and opposed a Berlin coalition involving the Left Party, while calling for quick pension, tax and welfare changes to revive the economy and public confidence.
- thefrontierpost.com ↗︎24 OCT 2026