Euractiv reports on the risk of reduction of payments by Germany to the EU

The growing popularity of the "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) party and the weakening of the position of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who heads the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), may affect Berlin's approach to financing the European Union (EU) budget. Euractiv portal writes about this on September 21.

"He is now cornered by the rise of the far-right," a European diplomat said, commenting on Merz's situation.

The Economist magazine also noted that after the CDU's defeat, the chancellor's position became "more precarious than ever." The publication called the party's result the worst in its history. The election was a disastrous political test for Merz, set before him by his own party members, which he did not pass. After the CDU's defeat in the land elections, the party leadership held a meeting without Friedrich Merz's participation.

After hearing the voice: the results of the local elections in Germany were a disaster for Merz

Why are the results in Mecklenburg—Vorpommern and Berlin rocking the chancellor's chair even more?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 21 that the victory of the AfD party in the elections in Mecklenburg—Vorpommern was an internal matter of Germany. Peskov also stressed that the Kremlin records "rather low figures of popularity of the rating among the current government of Germany."

The Politico newspaper reported on September 18 that the leaders of the five EU countries called for a reduction of several hundred billion euros in the next budget. It is specified that the initiative, in addition to Merz, was made by the Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Rob Jetten, Denmark Mette Frederiksen, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. Also on August 27, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported that Merz wants to achieve significant cuts in the EU budget for 2028-2035, but not to the detriment of the German military budget.