Swiss papers see several hurdles ahead for winner of German elections

Merz, seen in foreground, should not waste time in forming a coalition, the Swiss papers said on Monday. Keystone

The Swiss newspapers see a difficult starting position for Friedrich Merz, winner of the German parliamentary elections on Sunday. The Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) is gaining strength, while foreign policy pressure is growing.

Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU), is reliant on the other parties’ willingness to compromise while time is pressing, the papers said on Monday.

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“Merz’s CDU/CSU must succeed” the Tamedia newspapers wrote. As Merz does not want to form a coalition with the AfD, he will have to see what compromises the Social Democrats or the Greens are prepared to make. “If Merz fails in the task of forming a coalition, his dream of becoming chancellor is likely to be shattered shortly before the finish line,” wrote Tamedia.

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If the CDU/CSU makes “too many lazy compromises, the AfD will be breathing down its neck from day one, accusing it of betraying its own promises”, Tamedia added. Time is also pressing “like never before: the foreseeable avalanche of tariffs from the United States and the peace plans for Ukraine mean that Germany needs a government capable of acting as quickly as possible. Merz is facing a Herculean task.”

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‘Europe needs a strong Germany’

According to the news platform Watson, the parties must not “take an infinite amount of time to form a coalition”. “Because Europe needs a strong Germany,” it said.

The greatest opportunity for Merz and his government is that expectations are low. “The largest voter turnout since reunification in 1990 is another ray of hope. Germans may be dissatisfied, but they are not disenchanted with politics,” added Watson.

“For the first time in almost 80 years, Germans are realising that they can no longer rely on their great American friend to protect them,” wrote the Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures. Germany cannot afford to be the “sick man” of Europe, wrote Le Temps. “In the slipstream of other European countries, Germany is now confronted with an extreme right that has not been this strong since the Second World War,” said Le Temps. Their breakthrough at a national level, it added, reflects an insecurity that is rarely seen in Switzerland’s northern neighbour.

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Germany’s behaviour on the European stage will be even more important than the domestic political debate, wrote the tabloid Blick. Merz will not be blinded, “neither by the propagandistic phrases from the Kremlin nor by the glaring spotlight on the [CDU headquarters in Berlin] Konrad Adenauer House.” However, Merz faces “a difficult dance”, it added.

‘An anxious wait for now’

All he has left is the grand coalition, or Groko for short, wrote Blick. The newspaper described the coalition with the Social Democratic Party as a “forced political marriage”. “But what does that mean for Germany?” asked Blick. “First of all, it means an anxious wait. The negotiations about ‘How exactly?’ and ‘Who exactly?’ will take quite a while.”

“The extent to which the reforms in economic and migration policy that the country so urgently needs will materialise in the coming years is uncertain,” wrote CH Media newspapers. There is something to suggest that the parties “could force themselves to make painful compromises: the rise of the AfD.”

The AfD is the secret winner of this election and is “hot on the CDU’s heels”, commented the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). “Merz can now only hope that a single coalition partner will be enough,” it added. If the Greens also have to be brought on board for a stable majority, the CDU/CSU could face completely different problems in the next general election. “In the worst-case scenario, the AfD will no longer just be hot on its heels. It will be several steps ahead,” wrote the NZZ.

Translated from German with DeepL/gw

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