Merz called on Europeans to unite against the rise of Trump.

German chancellor candidate from the opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), Friedrich Merz, called on Europeans to act confidently and unitedly against the backdrop of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.
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Trump officially took office as President of the United States on Monday, taking the oath of office at an inauguration ceremony held at the Capitol.

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Trump is likely to sign decrees that “will not please Germany and the European Union,” Merz said Monday during a speech at a campaign event in Flensburg in northern Germany.

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“America First” (“America First”, one of Trump’s main principles). What is our answer: to humiliate ourselves, to submit, to be afraid?” the politician addressed the audience.

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He recalled that about 450 million people live in the European Union, which is “more than the population of Canada and the United States combined.” Therefore, Europeans need to “find a common language and come up with a joint proposal, and not come as supplicants,” said the head of the CDU.

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“Anyone who makes a dwarf of himself is treated like a dwarf. The Americans are quite ruthless in this regard,” Mertz added.