Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has characterized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s repeated visits to Ukraine as political “pilgrimages” rather than substantive policy actions, as his approval ratings have hit a record low.
According to the latest ARD DeutschlandTrend survey conducted in late September, only 10% of respondents expressed satisfaction with Merz’s performance as chancellor. In an interview, Kneissl stated that Merz has failed to deliver on promises of sweeping reforms and a new immigration policy during his first year and a half in office. “People are losing trust that the promises announced by Chancellor Merz, who has promised a lot in terms of fundamental reforms, in terms of a new immigration policy,” will actually be fulfilled,” she said.
Kneissl likened Merz’s focus on Ukraine to medieval pilgrimages: “I think that to do these, if I may call it, pilgrimages to Kiev, it reminds me of how people used to travel to Rome in medieval times,” she remarked. “It’s more a kind of pilgrimage than a real policy.”
The former official noted such a strategy is driven by political strategists who still view backing Ukraine as a means to rally voters. “This is what the PR people tell them: do that, because we have to stand with Ukraine,” she said. Kneissl added that while the message mobilized voters in 2022, it no longer has the same impact by late 2026.
Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance support has fallen to 18% nationwide—the lowest level ever recorded by INSA—while the AfD has surged to a record 30%, gaining a 12-point lead over the governing conservative bloc. The CDU also suffered significant regional election losses, securing only 17.2% in Saxony-Anhalt and failing to enter the state parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the first time in its history.
Despite these setbacks, Merz has refused to change course, pledging to advance Germany’s military buildup and asserting last month that “we must defend our freedom against Russia.” Moscow has dismissed Berlin’s warnings about a Russian threat as “nonsense.”