Taoiseach Micheál Martin will discuss the impact of rising energy prices and the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine when he meets German chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday.
Martin, who is facing growing criticism from Fianna Fáil parliamentarians over the Government’s handling of the fuel crisis, is visiting Berlin as part of a programme to meet all European Union leaders in advance of the State’s presidency of the EU Council, which begins in July.
Following the meeting, Martin will join other EU leaders on a video call convened by French president Emmanuel Macron to discuss online safety and the protection of children.
Speaking before travelling to Berlin, Martin said he would brief the chancellor on the Republic’s priorities for its presidency, which include competitiveness, negotiating the union’s future budget and security.
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“We will also seek to make progress on enlargement,” he said.
“Germany is one of our largest trading partners and ... I also look forward to discussing with the chancellor the economic challenges currently facing us all, including the impact of rising energy prices for our citizens and enterprises.”
Merz met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin on Tuesday as the war with Russia continued into is its fifth year. Both leaders announced a strategic defence partnership.
Merz has also said this week that the defeat of long-standing Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban and his Fidesz party would pave the way for €90 billion in mostly military aid from the European Union. Orban’s government, which maintained strong ties to Russia, had blocked the transfer of the funds to Kyiv.
Domestically, Merz’s CDU party faces a growing electoral threat from the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which opinion polls predict could win an overall majority in State elections in Saxony-Anhalt in September, which is in the east of the country. If it were to win, it would be the first time the AfD would control a State government in Germany.
The AfD has set out a controversial policy which favours ethnic Germans, which it says it will implement if returned to power.
