Merz has focused on economic, foreign, security, and family policies. He is seen as a representative of the pro-business wing of the CDU. He is associated with
neoliberalism. As a young politician in the 1970s and 1980s, he was a staunch supporter of
anti-communism, the dominant state
doctrine of
West Germany and a core tenet of the CDU. His book ''
(transl: Venturing More Capitalism'') advocates economic liberalism.
Asylum, migration and integration Merz says he sees limiting
irregular migration as the most important task after the
2025 German federal election. Merz criticized
Angela Merkel's policy of
open borders during the
2015 European migrant crisis. In 2024, Merz called for asylum seekers to be comprehensively rejected directly at the border. He believes this would send a signal that would lead to less irregular migration. In a 2024 debate about the capacity to accept refugees into Germany, Merz referred to the statement by
Saxony's Minister-President
Michael Kretschmer, who had spoken out in favour of accepting a maximum of 60,000–100,000 refugees per year. Merz explained that Kretschmer's statement roughly describes "what we can still achieve today with our integration power". Merz's CDU seeks to speed up visa processing for
foreign skilled workers. In December 2024, Merz called for deportations of illegal
Syrian immigrants to
Syria and a freeze on new admissions of refugees. As chancellor, he aims to "regularly deport" people to
Afghanistan and Syria. Referring to the fact that around 80 percent of the 200,000 applicants for
naturalization in 2024 wanted to keep their first citizenship, Merz intends to abolish the fast naturalization (which made it possible for applicants to obtain
German citizenship after living in Germany for three to five years) that the
traffic light coalition implemented in 2024. Weeks before the 2025 election, he also advocated for a
denaturalization (which would require an amendment to the
basic law) in cases in which those with
multiple citizenship commit crimes after obtaining German citizenship. After the January
2025 Aschaffenburg stabbing attack, perpetrated by an
Afghan migrant who had no
residence permits in Germany (and after a Merz called the EU asylum rulesthe
Dublin,
Schengen, and
Eurodac agreements"visibly dysfunctional", stating "Germany must, therefore, make use of its right to the primacy of national law". He announced that under his leadership "there will be fundamental changes to the right of entry, asylum and residence in the Federal Republic of Germany". Merz said that if he were elected chancellor, on the first day of his term in office, he would instruct the
Federal Ministry of the Interior to "permanently control the German state borders", and, "to reject all attempts at illegal entry without exception". There would be "a
de facto ban on entry into the Federal Republic of Germany for anyone who does not have valid entry documents".
Social policy Merz opposed the
Bürgergeld (unemployment payment) and, like the CDU, wants to see it abolished and replaced by another system called
New Basic Security. The trade union
ver.di described CDU plans for basic security as "inhumane and unconstitutional". Merz wants to altogether cancel unemployment payments to those who could work but do not. According to Merz, there are 1.7 million recipients who meet that definition. In the 1990s, Merz was in the minority even in his conservative CDU when he voted against liberalizing
Germany's abortion laws, against
preimplantation genetic diagnosis and criminalizing
marital rape.
Foreign policy General stance and
Robert M. Kimmitt at the German–American Conference in Berlin in May 2017|left Merz is a staunch supporter of the European Union,
NATO and the
liberal international order. In 2018, he described himself as "a truly convinced European, a convinced transatlanticist, and a German open to the world" and said that "I stand for a cosmopolitan Germany whose roots lie in
Christian ethics and the European Enlightenment and whose most important political allies are the democracies of
the West. I gladly use this expression again: The democracies of the West". Merz is known for hawkish stances on authoritarian countries, in particular Russia and China. In 2023, Merz called for Germany to involve key allies, especially France, in negotiations with China as part of a rethinking of ties with the country that reflected a global "paradigm shift" in security and foreign policy. He called China "an increasing threat to [German] security", and criticized Scholz's decision to allow China's
COSCO to take a stake in the
port of Hamburg. Merz said, "We need to have discussions with both the British and the French—the two European nuclear powers—about whether
nuclear sharing, or at least nuclear security from the U.K. and France, could also apply to us". The move to reconvene the old Bundestag were criticized. Merz received international support for the financial package from NATO Secretary General
Mark Rutte and EU Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen. In January 2026, Merz condemned
Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro following the
U.S. military raid on Caracas. He reaffirmed that Germany does not recognize Maduro's presidency, characterizing the most recent
Venezuelan elections as "rigged".
United States and Friedrich Merz at the
51st G7 summit in Canada, 16 June 2025 Long considered one of the most pro-American politicians in Germany and "exceptionally pro-American for a European leader", he has been the chairman of the
Atlantik-Brücke association which promotes German-American friendship and
Atlanticism. He counts former US President
Ronald Reagan as one of his role models and has travelled to the US over 100 times. Merz has criticized
Donald Trump more harshly than Angela Merkel did and has especially criticized Trump's
trade war against Europe. In fall of 2024, he said with regards to relations to the US and Russia, he would try to make himself "a little more independent from the US", as the US would be "in election mode" and "not the regulatory power that we were actually used to". In January 2025 he said regarding the United States, "We Europeans must be united [...] and those who travel to Washington must not only represent their own interests but the interests of the whole European Union". in Washington D.C., 18 August 2025 In February 2025, Merz said Europe must urgently strengthen its defenses and potentially even find a replacement for NATO, within months. Merz has criticized the Trump-led United States for alleged election interference after American government officials tried to bolster the right-wing populist
Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, regarded as extremist by
Germany's domestic intelligence agency, comparing it to Russian election interference. A week after the beginning of his chancellorship, Merz said at the summit of the
European Political Community that Europe has to "undertake all efforts to keep the Americans on our side" and "can't substitute or replace what the Americans still do for us."
Russia and its invasion of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 9 December 2024 Following the start of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Merz adopted strong pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian positions, urging Chancellor
Olaf Scholz to supply Ukraine with weapons and personally travelling to
Kyiv in May to meet Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy. While Merz, as opposition leader, had demanded that the
German government of Scholz deliver German
Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, he himself said that he would not necessarily deliver Taurus cruise missiles if he were chancellor. As chancellor, he would provide them if Russia or Vladimir Putin did not comply with Germany's and other European countries' request to stop attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and on the condition that France and Great Britain, for their part, lift the range limitation on the weapons they delivered to Ukraine. Merz said he would, as chancellor, try to bring about a European decision on the question of whether to allow Ukraine to strike against targets deep within Russian territory with Western weapons. He said he would also signal
Putin his
willingness to talk beforehand. In December 2024 he said that Germany is letting Ukraine fight with one arm strapped on its back. Germany should instead give Ukraine the possibility to defend itself effectively with weapons from Germany. In May 2025, Merz supported purchasing long-range missiles for Ukraine, adding that there were "no more range limitations for weapons delivered to Ukraine" from Germany; this change was seen by
Politico as allowing Taurus missiles to be delivered to Ukraine in the future. He added that "Ukraine has the right to use the weapons it receives, even beyond its own borders, against military targets on Russian territory".
Conflicts in the Middle East in
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 13 October 2025 Merz is a staunch
supporter of Israel. However, after he was elected chancellor he has expressed "serious concern about Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip". He does not see any role for Germany as a mediator in the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In 2023, he said, in response to the United States' admonition to Israel to abide by
international law, the
U.S. had a different relationship to Israel
than Germany, and that Germany has an obligation to help the country "without ifs and buts". In October 2024, Merz successfully urged the German government to resume weapons deliveries to Israel, including spare parts for tanks. He proposed stripping dual nationals of their German citizenship for protesting against Israel. In September 2024, Merz criticized the
International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to
issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged
war crimes during the
Gaza war. In December 2024, after the
fall of the Assad regime in
Syria, Merz called on Europe to strengthen its ties with
Turkey "to bring political pacification to this region". In February 2025, one day after the
2025 German federal election, he announced his will to invite Netanyahu to Germany, "as an open challenge" to the decision of the ICC. In May 2025, Merz changed his tone, saying he no longer understands Israel's policy in Gaza. Following the
Israeli military strikes on Iran on 13 June 2025, Merz stressed that "the goal must remain that Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons", and reaffirmed Israel's "right to defend its existence and the security of its citizens." Merz declared in an interview to the German public television network
ZDF on 17 June 2025, on the sidelines of the
G7 summit in Canada, that "This is the dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us." On 23 June 2025, Merz voiced support for
U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. on 1 September 2025, condemning the alleged involvement of Merz and other EU politicians in the
Gaza genocide In August 2025, Merz announced that Germany would not authorize any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be utilized in Gaza, citing the decision by
Netanyahu's Cabinet to assume control of
Gaza City and stating that the export restrictions would remain in place "until further notice." Merz's decision was criticized by some German politicians. In September 2025, Merz said that Germany stands "firmly" on Israel's side, but its military operations in Gaza are "disproportionate". He also stated that Germany does not plan and opposed to
recognize a
sovereign Palestinian state, and does not consider the current situation of the
Palestinian people under the ongoing
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip to be a
genocide. In November 2025, Merz's government revoked the export restrictions on weapons intended for use in Gaza. In early December 2025, Merz visited Israel and held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President
Isaac Herzog. The discussions focused on solidifying German support for Israel, the ongoing Gaza conflict, the peace process, and a major arms deal. In January 2026, Iranian Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi engaged in a diplomatic dispute with Merz concerning
Iran's domestic protests and the conflict in Gaza. Merz condemned the Iranian regime’s "brutal violence" against protesters, characterizing the
crackdown as a "sign of weakness" and asserting that the regime was in its "final days." In response, Araghchi argued that Germany's credibility on
human rights and
international law had been "obliterated" by its support for Israel's military actions in Gaza. Following the initiation of
U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran in late February 2026, Merz stated that the German government had been informed of the operations in advance. On 28 February, he issued a joint statement with UK Prime Minister
Keir Starmer and French President
Emmanuel Macron condemning Iran's retaliatory strikes against regional countries. On 1 March, Merz characterized the Iranian government as a "
terrorist regime" responsible for decades of internal oppression, stating that its nuclear and missile programmes posed a threat to regional peace and security, it was responsible for the activities of
Hamas and
Hezbollah, and it had repeatedly threatened Israel's existence. He added that Germany shares the goal of the United States and Israel to end its "terror". Merz further approved of the U.S. attacks on Iran, declaring that Germany is on the "same page" with the United States regarding the latter's plan to eliminate the Iranian regime.
Environmental policy In April 2023, Merz declared that everyone in the CDU takes the issue of
climate change very seriously. However, he went on to claim that the issue of climate change is overrated in the political debate and that the German population does not see the problem as significant as politicians do. Merz went on to deny that time is running out for successful climate change measures and that the country will be on the right track if it makes the right decisions over the next decade. In 2023, Merz opposed the proposed EU
phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles and
hybrid vehicles by 2035, stating that the fight for
net-zero emissions "must be achieved with technology and open-mindedness, not bans". In late 2024,
Volkswagen announced plans to close at least three German factories and lay off tens of thousands of employees. Merz argued that the Scholz government's emphasis on
electromobility contributed to the crisis at Volkswagen. Merz supports a business-friendly adaptation of the
European Green Deal.
Approach towards the AfD In November 2018, he reiterated that the CDU must clearly distance itself from the
Alternative for Germany (AfD), reiterating allegations that the latter is openly
Nazist and has antisemitic undertones. In 2019, he said it was right for the CDU to refuse co-operation with the AfD. However, in the same year Merz spoke in favour of a "more calm approach" to the AfD: "I would have long since elected an AfD vice president in the
Bundestag (federal parliament). [...] This party was elected with 12.6 percent. It has neither been banned nor classified as unconstitutional. It has millions of voters behind it who should not be made to play the victim". However, Merz did not take action against the steadily increasing local cooperation between CDU politicians and AfD politicians from the following year onwards, partially due to the AfD's rising electoral performance. In June 2023, he declared that cooperation between the two parties would only be prohibited in "legislative bodies", by which he meant the
EU, federal and
state levels. A month later, after being criticized over an apparent failure to implement his "announcement" from December 2021, he reiterated his differentiation regarding
political levels and said that in local parliaments, "of course [...] we must look for ways to jointly shape the city, the state and the district". Merz was criticized by large parts of his own party, who feared a crumbling of the
firewall against the far right. In June 2023, Merz retracted his promise in 2018 to halve the AfD, saying that his party in the opposition could not halve the AfD if the government counteracted by "strengthening it" with its policies. Before the
federal election, Merz repeatedly ruled out any possibility of a coalition between CDU and AfD. Merz passionately stated in early January 2025, that under his leadership "there won't be a cooperation between the CDU and the AfD" – stating that the CDU would "sell its soul" in doing so – and that he "ties his destiny as party chairman" to this commitment. With this motion, Merz ignored his own proposal, that he uttered in November 2024, to only put questions to the vote that would find a majority without the AfD. Merz claimed that the Union has "not spoken to the AfD, does not discuss things with them", or "compare texts", but that it proposes what it "believes to be right in the matter", insisting that putting a motion to a vote in the Bundestag did not constitute co-operation with the AfD. The Bundestag went on to reject the CDU's proposed legislation a few days later, largely due to a dozen CDU legislators abstaining, a decision seen to be sparked by the AfD-related controversy. After the
Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence agency, classified the federal branch of the AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavour" just days before Merz' election as Chancellor of Germany, Merz announced that his government will analyse the expert opinion by the BfV on the AfD before deciding how to proceed.
Secondary activities as a member of federal parliament Merz has been known for his many secondary jobs over several legislative periods. As a member of the
Bundestag (federal parliament of Germany), Merz had a total of 18 secondary jobs in the 14th legislative period (2002–2005) and at least 11 secondary jobs in the 15th legislative period (2005–2009). In 2006 alone, Merz was represented on the boards of eight different companies. In 2007,
Manager Magazine wrote about Merz's secondary jobs: In 2007, Merz wrote a letter to his voters in an attempt to defend himself against criticism of his secondary activities. In 2021, before the
federal election and 12 years after he left the Bundestag in 2009, Merz announced that he would no longer pursue any "professional activities outside of politics" if he were to be re-elected to the Bundestag.
Lawsuit against disclosure of additional income In 2005, the law was amended to require the public disclosure of income from secondary activities of members of parliament. Merz reportedly had 18, or, according to the management of the
Bundestag, 14 secondary activities in addition to his parliamentary work. Together with eight other members of the Bundestag, Merz filed a lawsuit against the disclosure of their secondary income at the
Federal Constitutional Court.
Millionaire and middle-class debate In November 2018, when asked in an interview with the
tabloid media
Bild, Merz said that he was a millionaire (without distinguishing between income and wealth millionaires) and thus would belong in his understanding to the upper middle class. He later specified that he, at that time, earned "around one million euros gross" per year. These statements met with a broad public pushback and sparked wider criticism in Germany. According to the
German Federal Bank, at the time in question, a total net worth of over put an individual in the top 5 percent of the German population by wealth. Merz's private assets include real estate and two aircraft. In November 2018, Merz said that introducing
same-sex marriage in Germany was the right thing to do. In September 2020, Merz was asked if he would have reservations about a gay chancellor, and said "concerning the question of sexual orientation, as long as it is within the scope of the law and does not concern children—at this point I reach my absolute limits—it is not an issue for public discussion". He clarified after an outcry that he had not meant to link homosexuality with pedophilia. ==Other activities==