Moscow, May 9 (UNI) New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to drag France into the fighting in Ukraine, Florian Philippot, the leader of the French Patriots party, said.

"New German Chancellor Merz is completely crazy! A real duo of lunatics with [French President Emmanuel] Macron! A supporter of war, a Euro-lover, a supporter of the suppression of freedom, a former employee of [one of the world's largest investment companies] BlackRock, who is determined to drag us into the war in Ukraine and crush France!" Philippot wrote on X on Thursday.

At the same time, he noted, politically Merz is already weak, since he does not have a real majority in the German parliament.

On Tuesday, the German parliament voted to appoint Merz as the new chancellor. Merz failed to secure the post in the first round of voting, falling six votes short of the 316 votes required to be elected chancellor. German tabloid Bild reported that Merz's failure might be due to a lack of support from his own conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU). He was able to secure 325 votes in the second round later in the day.

UNI SPUTNIK GNK