Merz expressed concern over changing relations with Washington under the Trump administration, emphasizing the need for gradual independence from the U.S.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s center-right Christian Democrats, who finished first in Sunday’s election, has vowed “real independence from the USA” as he sets about

Europe must seek to “achieve independence” from the United States, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said after his opposition conservatives won elections on Sunday, in a vote that also saw surging support for the far-right.