welcome
CNN

CNN

World

World

Who is Friedrich Merz, Merkel’s rival and German election frontrunner?

CNN
Summary
Nutrition label

72% Informative

Friedrich Merz , 69 , is the favorite to become the country’s next chancellor in the federal election on February 23 .

He is the old-school conservative who wants to rid his party, the Christian Democratic Union ( CDU ), of former leader Angela Merkel 's centrist legacy.

Merkel 's decision to leave the top job prompted Merz to come out of political hibernation and run for the party leadership.

Merz drives a hard line on immigration and sees curbing irregular migration to Germany as the most pressing task if he is elected.

Merz has criticized liberal welfare benefits and accused Ukrainian refugees of “social tourism” Merz and the CDU support Germany ’s continued military aid to Israel amid its war in Gaza .

He also advocates for a two -state solution as the long-term goal.

VR Score

75

Informative language

71

Neutral language

63

Article tone

semi-formal

Language

English

Language complexity

52

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

Source diversity

1

Affiliate links

no affiliate links