Overview
- EU leaders approved roughly €90 billion for Ukraine through new EU borrowing and guarantees rather than by tapping frozen Russian central‑bank assets, the method Merz had pressed for.
- Italy secured a further delay to signing the Mercosur trade pact, thwarting Merz’s push for an immediate conclusion.
- Belgium’s reservations over using Russian assets prevailed, with France and Italy siding against Merz’s plan during the summit discussions.
- Emmanuel Macron signaled he would speak with Vladimir Putin without prior coordination with Berlin, underscoring strains in the Franco‑German partnership.
- At home, Merz suffered a party‑linked setback as Annegret Kramp‑Karrenbauer won the Konrad‑Adenauer‑Stiftung chair over his preferred candidate, even as supporters point to fiscal loosening and expanded defense funding as tangible achievements.