Berlin, Germany – Former CDU leader Angela Merkel has sent a congratulatory message to her successor, Friedrich Merz, on his election victory, despite significant differences in their views on the course of their party. According to a spokesperson for Merkel, the former Chancellor sent a SMS to Merz on the night of the election, congratulating him on the clear mandate for the CDU and CSU and wishing him good luck in forming his government.
In a press conference, Merz had earlier sidestepped a question about whether Merkel had already sent him a congratulatory message, saying, “As of now, I haven’t seen a congratulatory message from Angela Merkel” but added, “It’s possible I might have overlooked it, as I received a few hundred SMS messages over the course of the night.”
The complicated relationship between Merkel and Merz had recently hit a new low, as Merkel accused her successor of breaking a promise not to seek a majority with the AfD in the Bundestag. The disagreement revolved around Merz’s commitment to not seek a majority with the far-right AfD in the German parliament.