Overview

• Chancellor Friedrich Merz devoted nearly half of his inaugural government declaration to foreign policy, highlighting meetings with key European leaders and commitments to NATO.
• Merz reaffirmed Germany's status as an immigration country but provided limited details on plans for migration limits and deportations.
• Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil announced the formation of an expert commission to propose reforms to Germany's constitutional debt brake by year-end.
• Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul began with cautious optimism, but without the participation of Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump, who sent lower-level representatives.
• Merz pledged to strengthen the Bundeswehr into Europe's leading conventional army while opposition parties criticized his lack of focus on social and climate issues.