16 months after he became chancellor, Germans are asking whether Friedrich Merz is right for the job

Earlier this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was in Rovaniemi in northern Finland — nearly 1,800 kilometers (about 1,100 miles) north of Berlin — but even that wasn't far enough to escape the unrest brewing in the German capital. Representatives from various countries had gathered there for the European Arctic Summit to discuss natural resources, geopolitics, security and climate change. When asked by journalists about the mood in Berlin, the chancellor said he could understand the heated debate in Germany surrounding him but that the future of Europe was far more urgent.