{"id":800423,"date":"2026-03-03T04:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T04:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/800423\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T04:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T04:15:11","slug":"merz-abandons-germanys-moral-certainties-as-he-aligns-with-trump-on-iran-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/800423\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz abandons Germany\u2019s moral certainties as he aligns with Trump on Iran \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Donald Trump<\/a> welcomes Friedrich Merz<\/a> to the White House on Tuesday, the German<\/a> leader will pile on praise over the lethal US<\/a>–Israel<\/a> strikes on Iran<\/a> \u2013 and save the lectures on international law for another day.<\/p>\n

Or possibly never. At 70, the chancellor is tossing out long-held policy certainties, including German diplomacy\u2019s beloved moral cudgel.<\/p>\n

In his first remarks on the strikes, Merz said on Sunday evening that \u201cinternational law classifications bring relatively little\u201d in discussing Iran and, on the contrary, had compounded a European \u201cdilemma\u201d over what he called a \u201cterrorist Mullah regime\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the time to lecture our partners and allies,\u201d said Merz, saying Germany shared the end goal of Israel and US \u2013 if not necessarily the means.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is never a right time to do something like this,\u201d Merz added, \u201cbut there is a time when it is too late\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hours later on Monday, as France<\/a> announced it was boosting its nuclear arsenal, Merz shattered a postwar taboo with confirmation of a Franco-German \u201chigh-ranking nuclear steering group\u201d.<\/p>\n

Though no time frame was mentioned, this group will push closer shared security co-operation including \u201cconventional missile defence and French nuclear capabilities\u201d.<\/p>\n

After just 10 months in office, Merz allies praise this all as robust pragmatism, above all if it gives Merz an in with the US president. <\/p>\n

Last June the chancellor survived his Oval Office debut relatively unscathed, but the warmth of the Trump welcome on Tuesday may depend on how far the president wants to push his European visitor.<\/p>\n

Since taking office, Merz has tried to have it both ways with key partners. In Munich last month he called for a \u201crevive and repair\u201d approach to EU<\/a>-US transatlantic relations \u2013 while admitting the postwar order was \u201cbeing destroyed\u201d by Washington as it was \u201cperhaps gambling away\u201d its unquestioned leadership role in the world.<\/p>\n

Hours after the Merz solidarity with Washington and Jerusalem on Sunday, meanwhile, senior coalition figures struggled on Monday to explain what Germany \u2013 in a joint E3 statement with France and the UK on Iran \u2013 meant by \u201cmilitary defensive measures\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means that, if any of our soldiers were attacked, they would defend themselves,\u201d said Johann Wadephul, German foreign minister, a nod to 500 soldiers stationed in Iraq and Jordan.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Germany\u2019s Friedrich Merz says Europe\u2019s freedom depends on its ability to defend itselfOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

And the E3 promise to \u201cdestroy Iran\u2019s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source\u201d?<\/p>\n

German government sources insisted the option of such strikes reflected a UK demand and not a Berlin ambition.<\/p>\n

Behind the robust rhetoric, German reticence on the path ahead reflects divided public opinion and media reaction to the strikes.<\/p>\n

While the Trump- and Israel-friendly Bild tabloid praised Merz for showing a \u201cclear moral compass\u201d in his statement, the leftist Tageszeitung (taz) denounced the German leader for backing a \u201cSchr\u00f6dinger international law\u201d policy, simultaneously applicable and non-applicable.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope is degrading international law,\u201d it argued, \u201cinto the category of \u2018nice to have\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merz watchers saw a similar pragmatic pattern in his inaugural visit last week as chancellor to China<\/a>. Forgotten, his warning as opposition leader in January 2025 of China leading an \u201caxis of anti-democratic autocracies challenging out democracies\u201d.<\/p>\n

Instead, in Beijing the chancellor praised \u20ac250 billion in bilateral trade ties and new deals from aircraft to pork and bilateral partnerships for media organisations and table tennis teams.<\/p>\n

There were careful, scripted mentions of China\u2019s influence over Russia on Ukraine but no public mentions of human-rights concerns. <\/p>\n

This new \u201cBerlin realism\u201d in foreign policy towards Washington and Beijing, the Frankfurter Allgemeine suggested on Sunday, arises from a \u201cdismal acknowledgment that it has to shape both central relationships from a position of weakness\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Donald Trump welcomes Friedrich Merz to the White House on Tuesday, the German leader will pile on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[32,2000,299,1945,1824,774,837,1167,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-800423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-friedrich-merz","12":"tag-germany","13":"tag-iran","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-israel-iran-conflict","16":"tag-united-states"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116163308699990357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}