Merz' appointment ends six months of political deadlock in the country after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government in November.

Friedrich Merz has been elected as Germany's 10th post-World War II chancellor, the culmination of a long political career that was once sidelined by his party's iconic leader, Angela Merkel.

While already planned, the trip comes only a day after Merz was elected chancellor by parliament on the second round of voting. His unprecedented failure to succeed on the first round underscored disunity in the coalition of his conservatives and Social Democrats.