German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came under heavy media fire after the EU summit, which exposed a clear rift within the European community. Donald Tusk also faced uncomfortable questions during the press conference. The Prime Minister had to explain himself to journalists from TVN and Polsat, who pointed out his mistakes.
It was a black day for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who failed to live up to his own expectations – assessed the German daily Die Welt after the EU summit. The newspaper criticized Merz, writing that he “still has to learn” how to navigate Brussels effectively.
The paper noted that Chancellor Merz failed to push through his demands regarding financing aid for Ukraine from Russian assets frozen in Europe and the signing by the European Union of a trade agreement with Mercosur, a bloc of South American countries.
“And it is unclear whether, in the end, it will not be EU taxpayers, rather than Russia, who will have to pay the billions for Ukraine. It was a black day for the EU and for Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Europeans showed during this Brussels summit just how divided and indecisive they are,” the newspaper assessed.
Criticism of the German politician also came from Der Spiegel. The magazine wrote about a compromise, stressing that “no clear signal of strength emerges from the dramatic summit.” As it added, a “bridging solution” was found. “Temporary considerations of outvoting Belgium by a qualified majority triggered a wave of solidarity from other small and medium-sized states. Criticism also came from these countries. Merz was accused of failing to coordinate his proposal with other states, and of advancing an idea under which the largest country (Germany) would be obeyed by the rest,” the weekly’s editors emphasized.
Did he declare success too early?
Reactions from Polish media also indicate that the summit was not the success announced in advance. Journalists from TVN and Polsat asked Donald Tusk questions at the press conference to which, as it turned out, he did not know the correct answers.
“You speak of success, yet yesterday at this time the scenario was completely different,” began a TVN journalist. He recalled the words of Prime Minister Tusk, who had previously assured journalists that the loan which eventually materialized was supposed to be the least debated solution when it came to helping Ukraine. Tusk’s message suggested that support for the country defending itself against aggression would come from frozen Russian assets held in Belgium. The Polish prime minister persisted in his answers, while journalists visibly shook their heads.
Questions from the correspondent of the second station followed a similar line.
A different solution was chosen
The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, announced overnight from Thursday to Friday that European leaders at the Brussels summit had decided to grant Ukraine support in the form of a €90 billion loan for the next two years. It will be financed from joint debt guaranteed by the EU budget. Three countries refused to participate in taking on this obligation – the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. There was no agreement on using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s needs. Belgium’s opposition proved decisive, as most of the Russian assets are deposited there. Prime Minister De Wever demanded unconditional safeguards from other member states. No agreement was reached on this matter.
Early Friday morning, Merz expressed satisfaction with the summit’s outcomes. The chancellor spoke of a “pragmatic and good” solution. According to him, €90 billion is sufficient to cover Ukraine’s military and budgetary needs for the next two years. “This signal is crucial for ending the war,” he assessed.