""Perhaps we didn't make it clear quickly enough after the change of government that we couldn't accomplish this enormous reform effort overnight," Merz told them, adding: "I accept this criticism." But, in a speech that fired up delegates in the southern city of Stuttgart, he vowed "to motivate us to peak performance" rather than "be dragged down by pessimism, fatalism and intellectual laziness"."
"Among the high-profile guests for the first time in years was his predecessor and long-time party rival Angela Merkel. Merz, 70, has made it his mission to steer the CDU back to its conservative roots and undo the liberal legacy of Merkel, especially her welcome to more than a million migrants a decade ago. Whatever differences they have had, they did not show them, instead greeting each other with smiles in the packed hall."
Friedrich Merz secured a 91 percent endorsement to remain CDU party chairman, energizing delegates despite personal approval challenges and regional electoral threats from the far-right AfD. He acknowledged criticism about slow reform progress and insisted that sweeping government changes cannot be accomplished overnight, accepting responsibility while urging peak performance instead of pessimism. Merz vowed commitment to bold campaign pledges, emphasized steering the CDU back to conservative roots and reversing liberal migration policies, and shared a cordial public moment with predecessor Angela Merkel. The CDU-led coalition with the SPD aims to revitalize a limping economy amid political pressure.
Read at The Local Germany
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