For now, he is only the winner of the election and in talks with the Social Democratic Party over forming a coalition have only just begun. But he is already acting as the future German chancellor. Three days after his victory, the Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz dined with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday, February 26. The two leaders are keen to revive the French-German engine, as relations between the French president and the outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, have never been smooth. Donald Trump's desire to rush through a peace agreement with Vladimir Putin to put an end to the war in Ukraine, and the threat of the United States withdrawing from European security arrangements, are acting as an electroshock.

This is contrary to the usual practice in Germany, where the chancellor waits until he has been sworn in by the Bundestag, which can take months, before making diplomatic visits. But the Christian Democratic leader seems determined to move very quickly, given the acuteness of the crisis. "Together, our countries can achieve great things for Europe," wrote Friedrich Merz on X after the meeting. "Thank you very much, dear Emmanuel Macron, for your friendship and the trust you place in French-German relations," he added, in French and German, in this message accompanied by a photo of the two men.

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