Germany’s new chancellor, Merz, unveils cabinet ahead of swearing-in

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Friedrich Merz is set to be sworn in as Germany’s next chancellor on Tuesday, heading a cabinet faced with challenges from an ailing economy to fraying US ties and a resurgent far right.

Here are his key picks to help govern Europe’s top economy in the coalition between his conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the centre-left SPD:

– Finance: Lars Klingbeil –

Lars Klingbeil, 47, has long worked behind the scenes in the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz and is partly responsible for the campaign that saw it sink to its lowest result for 80 years.

Described as “impassive, unassuming, inoffensive, almost boring” by Der Spiegel magazine, Klingbeil is nevertheless the new leader of Germany’s oldest party now that Scholz has stepped back.

Klingbeil will take over the finance ministry of Europe’s largest economy and also serve as vice chancellor.

He will have significant fiscal firepower after parliament approved Merz’s proposals in March to spend hundreds of billions of euros on defence and infrastructure in a “bazooka” spending package.

– Foreign: Johann Wadephul –

Former soldier Johann Wadephul, 62, was a low-profile politician but became known as a strong supporter of sending military aid to Ukraine and as a stern critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In April, Wadephul told a Berlin conference that Russia was the most “acute threat” to Europeans, after some politicians from the SPD and CDU floated the idea of resuming energy and trade ties with Moscow.

A member of the Bundestag since 2009, Wadephul wants Berlin to give Kyiv longer-range Taurus missiles that would allow it to hit targets deeper inside Russia.