Merz at Illner: The nice Chancellor next door

After the government statement in the Bundestag, Chancellor Merz goes to Maybrit Illner and thus into the living rooms of the Germans - there he explains again what he plans to do with the government and has a good evening for himself, although one announcement is also disappointing.

Even a good week after his swearing-in, the new Chancellor is still benefiting from not being the same old Chancellor. On Maybrit Illner's talk show that evening, Friedrich Merz presented himself as approachable, explanatory, and comprehensible, setting himself apart from his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, in a refreshing way. Scholz's trademark was to dismiss awkward questions with a "nope" or to talk on until everyone had forgotten the question. That doesn't mean, however, that Merz always had completely convincing answers ready.

In terms of content, Illner had apparently decided to review Wednesday's government statement step by step. The two hurried through topics such as Ukraine, migration, the economy, climate, and the inevitable AfD – which Merz said he doesn't want to ban. As he had done in the Bundestag, he narrowly avoided recycling a Merkel quote, also with a motivational intent: "Can we in this country roll up our sleeves together and say, let's tackle this now and get it done? I think it's possible."

Illner began by asking whether the new government is arguing as much as the old one and read out an impressive list of current news items about Taurus, the supply chain law, defense spending and much more, and whether there is little to no agreement between the SPD and the Union.

Merz listened to this with an amused, distant expression on his face and then said: "We are two different parties and we haven't left our differences at the wardrobe." And: "It's normal that at the beginning of a government you raise one or two issues that are more important to yourself than to your coalition partner." Whether he'll stay cool if things continue like this remains to be seen.

What will happen to sanctions?

Again and again, the moderator put her finger on undoubtedly existing wounds - which led to a certain disappointment in what was actually a first success for Merz: the joint trip to Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The four had threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with new sanctions if he did not agree to a 30-day ceasefire. During these 30 days, talks were supposed to take place to extend the ceasefire as far as possible. Things turned out differently, as we know. Putin instead offered talks in Istanbul this Thursday evening. However, without a ceasefire.

The threat of sanctions was immediately extended. As Merz now stated, these have been agreed upon and are set to come into force in Brussels next Tuesday. What will come into force next Tuesday, however, are not extra-heavy special sanctions from Germany, France, Great Britain, and Poland – but rather the EU's 17th sanctions package, which had long been in the works anyway. Macron, for example, had spoken of "massive sanctions" that would be coordinated between the Europeans and the Americans.

But no matter how little the bottom line may be, Merz made a point here: "Now let someone say that we haven't made sufficient diplomatic efforts in recent days to end this war." Many are calling for precisely this: trying diplomacy. Zelenskyy has shown "enormous willingness." "The only one who is in the wrong by not showing up is Putin," Merz said. In fact, hardly anyone believes that Putin seriously wants peace. The trip to Kyiv also exposed this. Merz said that only military exhaustion will likely bring peace.

Hair-splitting skills

The other topics also showed that not everything can be resolved immediately. Regarding migration, Merz focused on the legal difficulties surrounding rejections. Do you now have to declare an emergency in order to reject asylum seekers? And is it smart to anger the Poles by sending people back to them? Merz demonstrated his hair-splitting skills here: You don't send back anyone who has entered Germany, he said. You simply don't let anyone in. There's a difference. Does Tusk see it the same way?

When it came to the economy, economist Jens Südekum was brought in. He demanded that the planned super-depreciation allowances for corporations be implemented quickly. Merz said they should be possible this year. He devoted more time to contributions for pensions, long-term care, and unemployment, which place a much greater burden on lower and middle incomes than taxes. Adjustments must be made to ensure that the social security systems remain affordable and efficient. He said he does not yet have an answer as to how this should work. But it is also a question that is like squaring the circle. One step is the investment scheme for children, which his government intends to introduce.

As in the government statement, climate protection only played a role at the end. Merz said that if he had gone by the polls, he wouldn't have been allowed to address it in the Bundestag at all. People had turned away from it because the Greens had "over-moralized" the issue and addressed climate protection with a wagging finger. He didn't offer much in response, however, other than the slogans of technological openness and the rising price of CO2. Which is a bit of a stretch, since Germany isn't yet on track to become truly climate-neutral by 2045.

Merz benefited from the fact that no one else was in the studio, allowing him to devote himself to the questions in peace. He thus had a good evening, also for himself. He came across less as a miracle healer and more as someone seeking to understand the problems and find practical solutions. He also seemed somewhat approachable, like the friendly chancellor next door. That could earn him some points. In addition to the numerous problems and crises Merz must manage as chancellor, he also has a second mission: to increase his own popularity. There's still a lot of room for improvement there.