BERLIN, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for unity in his struggling coalition on Saturday, saying Germany faced growing threats from political extremists and what he described as daily Russian efforts to destabilise the country.
Speaking at a conference of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of his conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), Merz said Germany faced “extraordinarily serious challenges”.
“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?” he said, adding that Russia was seeking “to destabilise Germany on a daily basis”.
Relations between Berlin and Moscow have fallen to their lowest level since the Cold War following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine but Russia rejects accusations that it is conducting a hybrid campaign against Germany and other European countries.
Merz’s comments follow weeks of tension with the ruling coalition after heavy regional election defeats in eastern Germany, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first in two states and the far-left Left Party topped the poll in Berlin.
Merz’s approval ratings have fallen to record lows, while tensions have surfaced both between the coalition partners and between the CDU and CSU.
The two conservative sister parties have a long history of disagreements but have generally managed to overcome them.
On Saturday, delegates broke into loud applause when Merz mentioned Ilse Aigner, the CSU politician the party has proposed as successor to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is due to step down next year.
The CDU has so far stopped short of endorsing Aigner, and party sources say it has not abandoned hopes of putting forward its own candidate for the largely ceremonial post of head of state.
Merz, who entered the conference hall to a Bavarian brass band playing “The Eye of the Tiger”, praised CSU ministers in the government and paid tribute to CSU leader Markus Soeder.
But he repeated his rejection of calls from some conservatives to seek ways of cooperating with the AfD, which leads national opinion polls, saying any politician who voted with the party “has no place in our Union”.
He also urged the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens not to form a coalition in Berlin with the Left Party, which he accused of tolerating antisemitism within its ranks. The Left Party denies any systemic antisemitism in the party.
Merz said rapid reforms to Germany’s pension, tax and welfare systems were essential to revive the economy and restore confidence in public institutions.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie. Editing by Mark Potter)
