On Sunday evening, just minutes after the first exit poll showing the Christian Democrats of Friedrich Merz winning the German federal election, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was perhaps the first European leader to publicly congratulate the emerging new German Chancellor.

Mitsotakis and Merz have known each other for years, ever since the German politician took over the CDU, and the two have formed a good relationship. They have a similar, technocratic political profile, although Merz is clearly further to the right on the political map compared to the Greek Prime Minister. If, however, they have something in common, it is the rather problematic political relationship with Angela Merkel.

24 hours after Merz’s election victory and the prospect of forming a government with the Social Democrats – even if a few more weeks of consultations are still needed to formulate a programmatic agreement – Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Murz agreed on certain things during their telephone conversation. People familiar with the content say it was warm and mainly discussed the next steps on the German political scene.

It is, however, a fact that everyone in Europe is looking to Murz to conclude consultations with the Social Democrats as soon as possible, given the cataclysmic geopolitical developments and the immediate US-Russian negotiations on Ukraine.

It is clear from Mitsotakis’ moves that he aspires to build on the already good relationship he has with Merz, given the dominant role played by Germany in the European Council and the CDU in the European People’s Party. A few days ago, he sent a televised message of support for the Christian Democratic Party, citing Greece’s positive paradigm shift, expressing confidence that Germany under Mr. Merz could follow a similar path.

The message was reportedly shown on Friday at a central event of the Christian Democrats and was duly appreciated. It should be noted that a month ago Mitsotakis had traveled to Berlin and had met privately with Merz on the sidelines of a support event organized for him by the EPP.

Course of autonomy

Now a longtime member of the European Council, Mitsotakis seeks close relations with his counterparts. With Soltz, he never achieved the level of personal chemistry he would have liked. The “gap” was compensated for by Greece’s good relationship with France. Recently, however, careful observers have been recording “clouds” on the Athens-Paris axis & Mitsotakis is making moves to reposition his strategy.

Crucially, however, Merz appears to be a supporter of Europe’s strategic autonomy. Several times in the past few days, the new chancellor has rung “bells” to other Europeans for a U.S. “withdrawal” from the European region, saying that EU countries -his country first and foremost- must look out for their own interests and protection.

Like outgoing Chancellor Scholz, Mr. Merz appears to be an advocate of going beyond trite fiscal rules and strengthening Europe’s defense preparations. Ahead of the extraordinary summit convened for March 6 with Ukraine and European defense as key issues, it appears that the new German government will also continue on a course that satisfies Greek positions, given that Mitsotakis has been talking about the need for European defense initiatives for almost a year now, even before the European elections.