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 said on Monday he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit and would find a way for him to do so without being arrested under a warrant by the International Criminal Court.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the favourite to become the country's next chancellor after initial results showed his CDU/CSU bloc leading in Sunday's election, wants to form an effective government as quickly as possible.