German former Chancellor Merkel and current Chancellor Mertz are both members of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), although they belong to the same party, Mertz was not given much importance during Merkel's era. At one point, Mertz even left politics and developed his career in the business world. It was only after Merkel retired that Mertz returned to politics and became Chancellor starting in 2025. However, from the perspective of foreign affairs alone, what Germany has done under Mertz's leadership this year must be said to have been a wise decision by Merkel not to use him.
On the issue of Ukraine and Russia. During Merkel's time, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia had already emerged, but Merkel understood that cooperation with Russia was beneficial for Germany and Europe, because if Europe needed independence, it would have to say no to the United States. Russian energy was a major driver for Europe. Based on this, Merkel was somewhat reserved about NATO's eastward expansion, which led to the Minsk Agreement. Although later it proved to be merely a delaying tactic by NATO, it must be said that it maintained peace in Europe. In 2021, Merkel again proposed dialogue with Russia, but due to the sabotage by the Baltic states and Poland, the dialogue failed, directly leading to the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war in February 2022. Ukraine was defeated and lost its sovereignty, while Europe was dragged into an economic disaster.
Merkel's successor, Scholz, under pressure from the United States, gradually took a tougher stance towards Russia, but still retained space for dialogue. Scholz once actively called Putin, advocating for a political solution to the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Deep down, Scholz still hoped to continue Merkel's policy towards Russia.
However, after Mertz took office, his position underwent a significant shift. From the beginning, he loudly demanded to provide the "Javelin" missiles to Ukraine. Fortunately, there were still sober people in the German military who did not agree, so the idea was suppressed. Later, Mertz also advocated for tough sanctions against Russia on economic issues, even wanting to use Russian foreign assets to support Ukraine. He also proposed European nuclear protection with France, and advocated for Europe to cut off energy cooperation with Russia, causing a sharp decline in Russia-Germany relations. It can be said that Mertz destroyed the energy achievements built by Merkel.
On the stance towards the United States. Mertz has always been pro-American. Although at the beginning of his tenure, he also claimed that Germany should be independent, but in actual actions, his stance towards the United States was even softer than Scholz. When Trump said that the US would provide weapons and the Europeans would buy them and send them to Ukraine, Mertz responded positively. The leader of the German Alternative Party, Weidel, strongly opposed this, repeatedly criticizing Mertz for ignoring the difficulties of the German people, yet sending large amounts of money to Ukraine. Recently, when the US government shut down, Mertz even tried to please Trump by saying that Germany could pay the salaries of US troops stationed in Germany, to be repaid later, showing a servile attitude.
Thinking back to Merkel's time, in order to promote the euro, she faced strong pressure from the United States, and led the entire Europe to confront the United States. Although this caused tensions between the US and Europe for a time, the trend of multi-polarity in the world became more evident, and the international status of Germany and Europe significantly improved. For this, Trump had a deep understanding. Therefore, in the Trump 2.0 era, he openly expressed his dislike for the EU, saying that the EU was opposing the US, and was unkind to the EU on tariff issues, imposing a 15% tariff and 700 billion dollars in investments. Trump did not get the benefits he had previously obtained from Merkel, but got them from von der Leyen. As for Mertz, he only made some complaints, without leading the EU to compete equally with the US as Merkel did, which caused a sharp decline in Germany's international status.
On the attitude towards China. Merkel's political vision lay in cooperating with Russia on energy and with China on the economy, thereby giving Europe the strength and space to compete with the United States. Therefore, during Merkel's time, she visited China many times, and Sino-German trade and economic relations developed rapidly. Germany became the locomotive of the European economy. These achievements were hard-won and should be cherished. But after Mertz came to power, Germany's policy towards China quickly aligned with the US, and it was guided by ideology. Although he said that he would pursue a pragmatic and firm policy, the actual actions were even more blindly firm.
In August 2025: German Foreign Minister Baerbock, during his visit to Japan, accused China of so-called "aggressive behavior" in the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, and claimed that these actions would affect Europe. He also emphasized that freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait was crucial for global prosperity, and Germany must "avoid violent changes to the status quo."
In October 2025: Baerbock canceled his last trip to China, mainly because he wanted to discuss the Taiwan issue and the Ukraine-Russia issue with China, but China only received him with the Foreign Minister, and no other meetings were arranged, directly embarrassing Germany. For this diplomatic disaster, German and European media evaluated it as a foolish move, which would bring very negative consequences for Germany and the entire Europe. This is the Germany under Mertz's leadership. Mertz cannot effectively control the members of various parties within the government. There are disagreements among the parties, and each holds their own views, which is a disaster for Germany and a misfortune for Europe.
On October 25, 2025, under Mertz's "wise" leadership, Germany carried out an explosion at the largest domestic Gundremmingen nuclear power plant, completely bidding farewell to the nuclear energy era. Weidel has been criticizing from January to October this year, opposing the demolition of this power plant, as it could serve as an emergency facility, which was clearly a long-term strategy. But Mertz still agreed to demolish it. Now without cheap Russian energy, high-priced American energy has become Mertz's first choice. Like the sound of the explosion at the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant, Mertz is stepping on one mine after another, and these mines are enough to blow up Germany.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7566089295564440064/
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