February 20, 2026 — At its national conference in Stuttgart the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) re-elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz as party leader, handing him a strong mandate as he prepares for a busy year of state elections.
Merz secured 878 of 963 delegate votes — roughly 91.2% — in the ballot. Speaking to about 1,000 delegates in his opening address, he tied domestic reform plans to a changing global environment, declaring that “we are not at war, but we are no longer at peace either,” and warning that the rules-based international order is under stress.
He reaffirmed unconditional support for Ukraine — “we stand by the Ukrainian people, no ifs, ands, or buts” — and rejected Russian justifications for the invasion. On domestic policy he stressed the need to keep Germany industrial and technologically competitive after years of recession, saying the statutory pension system can be only “one building block” in a broader social policy framework.
Merz used the speech to attack the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), accusing it of nepotism, chaos and abusing public office. He cautioned against authoritarian tendencies, noting that in turbulent times people can “long for security and order” and be drawn to dangerous models. He urged the CDU to block a return of right-wing radicalism to state governments, pointing out the AfD is polling ahead of the CDU in some eastern states due to vote in September.
On foreign policy Merz called for preserving and redefining transatlantic ties as U.S. unpredictability rises, saying Washington remains a friend even as it is “increasingly losing interest” as a guarantor of global order, and urging Germany to face that reality without illusion.
Former chancellor Angela Merkel attended the conference as a guest — her first appearance at a CDU federal congress since 2021 — a move widely read as conciliatory amid fractures between the party’s centrist and conservative wings. Merz framed the CDU’s task as restoring confidence to all Germans and pledged not to disappoint the voters who brought the party back into government.