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The world may be on fire, but there’s no rushing Germany’s political process.

At summits and other international settings in the run-up to and aftermath of February’s snap federal election, Berlin has been notable by its absence.

True, the chancellor has still been in office, but as a caretaker while the incoming parties hammered out a joint program for government.

That work is now done; Germany is back.

Shipping containers stacked in Frankfurt. Photographer: Florian Wiegand/Getty Images

The Social Democrats announced yesterday that party members had approved the coalition agreement with their Christian Democratic counterparts. It wasn’t a given.

That sets the stage for conservative leader Friedrich Merz to assume the chancellorship from Olaf Scholz on Tuesday.

It can’t come too soon.

Germany’s economy is in crisis and companies are shedding jobs. The nationalist AfD has benefited from the political vacuum and is now Germany’s most popular party, if some polls are to be believed.

The incoming government urgently needs to turn things around — and not just for Germans’ sake.

Merz already changed the constitution in the outgoing parliament to relax debt rules and free up hundreds of billions of euros to raise competitiveness and reinforce the military.

If these massive outlays are deployed as intended, the outcome will be a positive shock for a listless Germany. That, too, is not a given.

The chancellor will travel to Paris and Warsaw next week to coordinate on challenges posed by Russia, China and President Donald Trump’s America. Kyiv may follow since Merz has pledged to redouble German support for Ukraine.

Merz has made encouraging noises. Yet the burden of expectation on an unpopular leader with no experience of governing is enormous.

If he succeeds, Germany will lead from the front rather than be content to steer the ship from the economic engine room.

Europe can’t afford for him to fail. — Alan Crawford

Merz. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Global Must Reads

A key Trump ally in the US Senate said he has the commitment of 72 colleagues for a bill that would enact “bone-crushing” new sanctions on Russia and tariffs on countries that buy its oil, gas and other key products if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t engage in serious negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The US and Ukraine signed a deal over access to the wartorn country’s natural resources.

Trump acknowledged that his sweeping tariff program had risked imperiling him politically, but said during a town hall yesterday that he would not rush deals to appease nervous investors and remained determined to push on. He blamed former President Joe Biden for weak economic data in the first quarter that sent stocks tumbling, saying that his administration deserved “a pass.”

The US urged India and Pakistan to work together to de-escalate tensions and avoid a clash between the two nuclear-armed states, after militants last week killed dozens of people in the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. The attack has raised questions among opposition politicians and analysts about how it could have occurred in the heavily militarized area.

A Pakistani soldier near the Line of Control, de facto border between India and Pakistan. Photographer: Aamir Qureshi/AFP

South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung violated election law and sent the case back to the high court for final sentencing, potentially upending the race for the June 3 election. Lee, the former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, has secured his party’s nomination and holds a commanding lead in the polls despite the legal uncertainty.

Far-right pro-Russia candidate Calin Georgescu’s shock victory in Romania’s presidential election in November triggered its gravest political crisis since the fall of communism in 1989. The annulment of that vote amid allegations of Russian interference and his disqualification from Sunday’s first-round rerun has only served to shore up support as the baton has passed to ultranationalist George Simion, who’s leading in polls.

The Trump administration has been seeking contact with Beijing to initiate talks on trade tariffs, a Chinese state-run media outlet reported.

Trump barely repelled a challenge to his global tariff offensive in the Republican-controlled US Senate as the president’s trade policy stokes public fears of inflation and recession.

China removed sanctions against European lawmakers amid speculation that the US tariffs could lead to a reset of Beijing’s relations with the European Union.

Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro raised workers’ minimum wage going into regional elections on May 25 which he aims to use to further cement his power as the US ratchets up pressure on his regime.

Nicolas Maduro. Photographer: Jesus Vargas/Getty Images

On the new episode of Trumponomics: What does India stand to gain from the US trade war with China? Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Chart of the Day

The EU plans to share a paper with the US next week that aims to kick-start trade negotiations with the Trump administration. The 27-nation bloc will propose lowering trade and non-tariff barriers, boosting European investments in the US, cooperating on global challenges such as tackling China’s steel overcapacity and purchasing US goods like liquefied natural gas and technologies, sources say, cautioning that the plans could still change.

And Finally

Brazil’s iconic yellow soccer jersey has become such a potent conservative political symbol in the country that many leftists refuse to wear it. Now, rumors the team might don a different color with deep associations to the left at the 2026 World Cup are inflaming the right. The Brazilian Football Confederation issued a statement denying the national team would wear red secondary uniforms next year, a day after the website Footy Headlines reported that it planned to replace the traditional blue kit, sparking a fierce backlash.

Brazil’s Neymar wearing the team’s kit at the 2018 World Cup. Photographer: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/ Getty Images

Global Must Reads

Chart of the Day

And Finally

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