Friedrich Merz

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday that he "totally" disagrees with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments of support for Hamas, "but that is no reason why I should not welcome him to Greece in a little less than a month, where we will discuss our bilateral relations." 

More than 60% of German residents are dissatisfied with the work of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the governing coalition of the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party.

This is shown by the results of a survey published last night, conducted by the sociological institute INSA on behalf of the "Bild" newspaper.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Jan. 30 congratulated the new leader of Germany's ruling party.

In a phone call, Erdoğan said he believed Armin Laschet, head of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), will continue Germany's positive relations with Turkey, according to a statement from Turkey's Communications Directorate.

With three candidates vying on Friday and Saturday to take over the leadership of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, Greece is weighing who could best serve its interest - Armin Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Norbert Rottgen, chairman of the Bundestag's foreign affairs committee, and Friedrich Merz, a corporate lawyer and former MP.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right party has elected Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of Germany's most populous state, as its new leader- sending a signal of continuity months before an election in which voters will decide who becomes the new chancellor.

On Saturday, 1,001 delegates of the Christian Democratic Union will elect their new leader.

There are five candidates in the race, points out Austrian daily "Standard".
The paper reminds that the CDU assembly had to be postponed twice because of the coronavirus, and it is now scheduled for January 16, when a new party leader should be elected, and the meeting with 1.001 delegates will be digital.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday (Jun 4) she is "absolutely not" planning to stand for re-election to a fifth term despite her overwhelming popularity.

"No, absolutely not," Merkel told reporters from public broadcaster ZDF, saying her decision was "very firm".

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close ally of Angela Merkel, won a tight race to succeed her as party leader Friday, seeing off a longtime rival of the German chancellor, reports AFP. 

The contest, which required a runoff vote to secure a 52-percent majority for AKK as she is known, is expected to increase the likelihood that Merkel will be able to see out her fourth term until 2021.

Germany's largest and dominant political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is holding a crucial vote to elect a new leader this coming weekend after Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would not run for the post and effectively started to wind down her political career, writes CNBC.