Armin Laschet, the premier of North-Rhine Westphalia met with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen - who also hails from the CDU party that he was elected to lead over the weekend - in January 2020 (Photo: European Commission)

Analysis

What do new CDU chief's pro-Russia views mean for Europe?

EU & the World

EU Political

by Eszter Zalan, Brussels,

Armin Laschet, the premier of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, was elected to be the new leader the country's governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party on Saturday (16 January).

He is seen as a political heir to Angela Merkel, who will end her 16-year tenure as Germany's chancellor after the general election in September.

It remains to be seen if Laschet will be the CDU's candidate for the chancellery, but some of his foreign policy views have raised...

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EU & the World EU Political Analysis

Author Bio

Eszter Zalan is a Hungarian journalist who worked for Brussels-based news portal EUobserver specialising in European politics, focusing on populism and Brexit.

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