Friedrich Merz has vowed to prioritize European unity and the continent's security as it grapples with the new Trump administration and Russia's war on Ukraine​.

Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz told Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu that he would invite him to Germany in defiance of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Israeli prime minister's office said on Monday.

On 23 February, Germany will vote to decide who will run their next federal government. There’s five candidates running to be chancellor – the frontrunner is Friedrich Mertz from the Christian Democrat party. In Germany, a single party rarely wins the majority of seats in the Bundestag, meaning coalition governments often form.