BERLIN (Reuters) - Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to become Germany's next chancellor, said the second presidency of Donald Trump would bring clarity for the European Union as he hosted conservative EU heavyweights in Berlin.
"I think Trump is very predictable," Merz said at a press conference alongside Manfred Weber, head of the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the biggest lawmaker group in the European Parliament.
"In this respect, I think we can prepare ourselves for the fact that there will be a lot more clarity in the coming weeks and months and that there will of course also be many challenges," he added.
Merz, the head of Germany's CDU/CSU conservative bloc, is in line to succeed Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose fractious coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats collapsed in November over contradictory plans to revive the nation's ailing economy.
Merz said Europe needed to unite in order to be respected in the world, especially in the United States, and that Trump's inauguration on Monday would "speed up our efforts to bring our power together and to act together."
Trump's hawkish stance should be seen as an opportunity, also in terms of joint European military procurement, he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and conservative heads of state and government from countries including Sweden, Finland and Austria were among those attending the two-day gathering in the German capital.
In a joint declaration, the EPP said its priorities for 2025 were for Europe to regain its competitiveness, to reduce irregular migration and to ramp up security in the face of "disinformation campaigns by foreign autocrats, terrorist attacks, organised crime and hybrid warfare at our borders."
According to a Yougov poll released this week, Merz's conservative bloc will capture 30% of the vote in the German election on Feb. 23, making it by far the most likely to lead any future coalition. Scholz's SPD is lagging behind at 18% of the vote, according to the poll.