Skip to main content

The German Marshall Fund of the United States

  • Who we are
    • Programs
      • Alliance for Securing Democracy
      • Asia Program
      • Balkan Trust for Democracy
      • Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation
      • Congressional Affairs
      • Europe Program
      • Fund for Belarus Democracy
      • Future of Geopolitics
      • GMF Cities
      • GMF Digital
      • Leadership Programs
      • Mediterranean Program
      • Security and Defense
    • Offices
      • Ankara
      • Belgrade
      • Berlin
      • Brussels
      • Bucharest
      • Paris
      • Warsaw
      • Washington, DC
    • About Us
    • Marshall Plan
    • Our Partners
  • Experts
  • Events
    Mar
    4
    Upcoming Event

    A Partnership to Endure: What Next For the Transatlantic Relationship?

    March 4, 2021 | 9:00AM to 10:15AM EST
    • Major Conferences & Forums
      GMF brings together hundreds of policymakers, elected officials, academics, and business leaders from around the world to discuss topics from energy to migration, economics to security, urban growth to diplomacy.
    All Events →
  • Our Work
    • Topics
      • America
      • Asia
      • Europe
      • Cities and Regions
      • Security
      • Trade and Economies
      • All Topics
    • Research
      • Publications
      • Transatlantic Takes
    • Perspectives
      • Audio
      • Video
      • Blog post
      • In The News
  • Stay Informed

Photo Credit: Electric Egg / Shutterstock

In the News

Choosing A Chancellor: from Bavaria to Berlin?

February 18, 2020

Jackson Janes

Senior Fellow

Stephen Szabo

The abrupt departure of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) from the race to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor leaves several potential CDU candidates vying for the opportunity. The immediate focus has been on three men who have been tagged to watch: Friedrich Merz, Jens Spahn, and Armin Laschet. Each appear viable. Merz, former CDU whip in the Bundestag, tried to win the position of chair of the CDU last year but lost to AKK by a thin margin. Jens Spahn, currently health minister in Merkel’s cabinet, represents the younger generation of the party with a conservative accent. Armin Laschet, current minister-president of Germany’s largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, is a moderate in the party versus the more conservative Merz or Spahn. There is one additional name making the rounds as an outlier in the race: The minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Günther, who is currently in a coalition government with the Greens and the FDP. But there seems to be a three-way race for the chairmanship as of now.

How quickly this race can be concluded is not clear. Given the need to come up with a candidate to run in next year’s election by the end of this year, one might conclude that the chairman of the party will be that candidate. The tradition in the CDU has always been to have the two positions held by whoever is chancellor.

AICGS
Read the full article

Related Content

Photo Credit: Vasilis Asvestas / Shutterstock

Transatlantic Take

Germany’s Potential Next Chancellor Will Need to Send Clear Foreign Policy Signals

Jan 28, 2021 | By Jackson Janes

Photo Credit: Alex Gakos / Shutterstock

In the News

"He Was Always an Outsider": U.S. Expert Explains Donald Trump's Perfidious Strategy

Jan 7, 2021 | By Jackson Janes
Strengthening Transatlantic Cooperation

Our Organization

  • About GMF
  • Career Opportunities
  • Our Partners
  • Press Room
  • Support Our Work
  • Core Values

Our Work

  • Leadership
  • Policy
  • Civil Society
  • Research & Analysis

Our Experts

  • Find an Expert

Follow

  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Diversity Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Credits

Stay Informed

Don’t miss out on the latest from GMF. Sign up to receive emailed newsletters, announcements, and event notifications.

Subscribe