Friedrich Merz travels to Paris and Warsaw on Wednesday on his first foreign trip as German chancellor, still reeling from a humiliating setback in Tuesday’s government transition that raised early questions about his leadership.

The day after his dramatic election in parliament as German chancellor, Friedrich Merz set off on the first trip abroad of his administration on Wednesday, heading first for France and then Poland. In Paris,

Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz will visit the Elysée for his first trip abroad on Wednesday. Emmanuel Macron and Merz are well acquainted, having met both before and after the German elections.