Conservative Friedrich Merz is set to be sworn in as Germany's new chancellor at a critical juncture as the economy battles its longest post-war downturn, relations with top security ally the United States fray and the far-right surges.
Lawmakers are widely expected to back Merz as chancellor in a vote later on Tuesday in the lower house of parliament after his CDU/CSU conservatives, who won February's federal election, secured a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats.
The pressure is on for Merz to show leadership after the implosion last November of outgoing SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition left a political vacuum at the heart of Europe even as it faced a myriad of crises.
A global trade war sparked by US President Donald Trump's sweeping import tariffs is threatening a third year of downturn in Europe's largest economy, which has already had to grapple with the end of cheap Russian gas since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and growing rivalry from China.
Trump has threatened not to come to the aid of fellow members of the NATO defence alliance, prompting even transatlanticist Merz to question the reliability of the United States and urge Europe to improve its ability to defend itself.
The German coalition deal has mapped out plans to revive growth such as reducing a corporate tax and lowering energy prices. It also vows strong support for Ukraine and higher military spending.
While Merz is a veteran politician who started his career as a European lawmaker in the 1980s, he still has to prove his chops in power as he has never held a government office.
After losing a power struggle to arch party rival Angela Merkel in 2002, he spent over a decade working in the private sector before finding his way back into top level politics.
A wealthy, Catholic west German lawyer and hobby pilot who served for four years as chairman of the German arm of fund manager BlackRock, Merz is widely considered the antithesis in both style and policy to the woman who led Germany for 16 years.
Where Merkel was an even-tempered pragmatist who shifted the conservatives more towards the centre, Merz is a provocative economic liberal who has pulled the bloc back to the right.
Merz's supporters highlight the fact he secured a historic fiscal package to boost spending on infrastructure and defence even before taking office.
Critics say it was only necessary because of his erratic decision to push an anti-migration motion through parliament with the backing of the Alternative for Germany, breaking a taboo on co-operation with the far-right.
That decision boosted support for both the AfD and the far-left Left party, who together secured enough support to be able to block a loosening of Germany's fiscal rules in the next parliament.