“Maischberger”: “I was completely horrified,” says Merz about Lindner’s Milei initiative

In just under two weeks, the Union will present its election program. It should be specific, reflect the mood in the country, but not promise too much, which could lead to disappointment afterwards. With “Maischberger”, Friedrich Merz, CDU party leader and the Union’s candidate for chancellor, shows that he has warmed up for the election campaign.

But first, ZEIT editor-in-chief Giovanni die Lorenzo, editor of Media Pioneer Dagmar Rosenfeld and reporter Laura Kipfelsberger discuss the inglorious end of the FDP in the traffic light exit. In addition, the former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, calls for greater European support for Ukraine.

“I can’t remember a story that has provoked more reactions,” says Giovanni die Lorenzo at the beginning of the talk show. He alludes to the revelation by the weekly newspaper ZEIT, which uncovered the FDP’s controversial “D-Day” paper three weeks ago. In the paper, the party planned its exit from the coalition. Di Lorenzo suspects that this obviously triggered something emotionally in many readers. It hits the “vulnerable point of not staging politics as a game of intrigue,” said the ZEIT editor-in-chief.

Lindner is said to have commissioned D-Day paper

Reporter Laura Kipfelsberger takes it even further: This is a “destruction of trust on an open stage.” Editor of Media Pioneer Dagmar Rosenfeld would like a different focus in the discussion. The lessons learned as to why the traffic light coalition failed are “not even talked about anymore.” In its economic transition paper, the FDP took up many points that also met with approval in the business community. Now the paper can only be seen in the context of the coalition break. “I think that’s the tragedy,” said Rosenfeld.

“We have credible evidence that Christian Lindner even commissioned this paper,” adds di Lorenzo. Kipfelsberger then says that Lindner is no longer tenable: “I think that Lindner’s one-man show should now come to an end.”

Merz horrified by Lindner’s suggestion to “dare to go further”

There is no job for Dieter Bohlen in the Merz team, the Union’s candidate for chancellor confirmed in a talk with Maischberger. After Bohlen, a juror on “Deutschland sucht den Superstar”, recommended himself as a consultant, Merz quickly called him. However: “We talked about music and I thanked him for finding such nice words,” reports Merz. The phone call did not become political.

In “Caren Miosga’s” talk show, Christian Lindner called for “more mileage” – that is, to take the ultra-liberal Argentine president as a role model. “I was completely horrified by this comparison,” Merz bursts out. “What this president is doing there is ruining the country and trampling on the people.”

Merz is calling for a change in the heating law

Then Maischberger goes into political depth with the debt brake, citizens’ money and the heating law. Merz still considers the debt brake to be correct and necessary. At the same time, it still leaves room for changes to the brakes. “We can talk about all articles of the Basic Law from Article 20 onwards,” Merz evades Maischberger’s questions.

Merz is more specific about citizens’ money. This should be replaced by the “new basic security” under Chancellor Merz. The 1.7 million people in Germany who are currently able to work and receive citizen’s benefit should then only have to get by on “an absolute minimum”.

The heating law, as implemented by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), should also be abolished, Merz is certain: “It has achieved the complete opposite of what he wanted”. Merz wants to go back to the old rules. This envisages gradually installing heating systems in buildings using CO2-neutral alternatives. Merz’s argument: “This is open to technology.” For this change, Merz promises new transition periods in order to “make the transition sensible”.

When asked about Scholz’s statement that “he was cooler than Merz,” he responded in a relaxed manner: “You shouldn’t judge for yourself how cool someone is,” he countered simply.

“Putin has created the feeling that he is invincible”

When dealing with the war in Ukraine, Merz would like to coordinate more closely with his European neighbors than the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). “I won’t do anything that we haven’t decided together.”

Should there be deliveries of Taurus cruise missiles in the future, Merz rules out that there are “German soldiers who are going to Ukraine to train for this.” At the same time, Merz would like “that we reintroduce military service” – combined with that Alternative to a compulsory social year.

The former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, described the current situation in Ukraine: “It is the most difficult time we are experiencing since the beginning of the war. At the moment, Putin has created the feeling on the front lines and in people’s minds that he is invincible.” From the perspective of a Trump administration, Melnyk appeals to the EU states to “take a whole new line” and a “bigger role to play” than before.