Merz: We are not at war, but there is no more peace

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this at a summit on ecosystems held in Berlin on Friday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"For the first time in decades, we are witnessing a large-scale attempt to shift borders by military force — and not somewhere far away, but in Europe. Please do not say this is just a terrible war in Ukraine. […] I think I can say here on behalf of everyone: we support Ukraine, and we will remain by Ukraine's side," Merz said, addressing Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko in the hall and all those present.

The chancellor stressed that Germans are doing this not only for Ukraine, though that alone would be reason enough, but also for themselves.

"By doing so, we are doing something for our freedom. We want to try to preserve the political order on our continent, which is an order of political freedom, democracy, open societies, and — yes, it may sound old-fashioned — a rules-based order. We want to abide by rules, laws, treaties, and international legal obligations," Merz said.

He said that these concepts are no longer guaranteed not only in Ukraine but also in many other parts of the world, including the United States.

"The changes we are seeing now in the United States of America did not happen overnight and will not disappear overnight. They will not disappear suddenly with the next elections. This country has changed so fundamentally in recent years, perhaps even decades, that rules are no longer observed, parliamentary democracy is under pressure, freedom of expression is being questioned, and judicial independence is being suppressed," Merz said.

He noted that upon taking office on May 6 this year, he set a clear goal: to ensure that Germany, together with its partners in the European Union, remains an open, liberal, democratic, market-oriented, and free society. A functioning European Union is a necessary precondition for this, since if Europe fails, Germany will fail too, he said. That is why he intends, together with Europe's neighbors in the south, north, east, and west, as well as with the British, to pursue a common European foreign and security policy. In his opinion, foreign policy today is also domestic policy; they can no longer be separated.

"The threat is real. You read it in the newspapers, you hear it in the news: drone flights, espionage, the assassination in Tiergarten, massive threats against public figures — not only in Germany but in many other European countries — daily acts of sabotage, attempts to paralyze data centers, cyberattacks. […] We are not at war, but there is no more peace. We must clearly recognize this if we want to respond to the challenges we are facing now," the chancellor said.

He added that the changes in the world are so profound that "we will likely only be able to fully grasp what we are now experiencing a few years from now, looking back." The politician described it as a fundamental shift in the political and economic centers of power worldwide. It is about political power — in part, political power backed by military force.