Germany’s Merz Signals Openness to Common EU Defense Borrowing

Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to be Germany’s next chancellor, said he’s open to considering common European Union borrowing for defense, a potential game-changer as the bloc responds to Russian aggression and fading US engagement.

Asked whether he would accept proposals for softening European Union rules that would open a path to “defense bonds,” the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union said any such consideration for joint action would have to fulfill a range of conditions and be unanimous — but he didn’t rule it out.