# Merz Warns of 'Massive Threat' From Russia, Says Germany Is Under Pressure From Both Sides

> Addressing the CSU party conference, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany faces a massive threat from a Russia actively working to destabilize the country, framing the danger as part of a two-front squeeze that also includes pressure from extremist parties at home.

- Source: Berlin Today
- Canonical URL: https://berlintoday.eu/article/merz-warns-of-massive-threat-from-russia-says-germany-is-under-pressure-from-both-sides
- Author: Doug Brown
- Section: Politics
- Published: 2026-10-25T13:00:20.650Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T13:00:20.650Z
- Tags: Germany, Friedrich Merz, Russia, CSU, CDU, national security, extremism, economic reform

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Chancellor Friedrich Merz told delegates at the Christian Social Union's party conference on Saturday that Germany faces a massive threat from Russia, describing Moscow as actively working to destabilize the country rather than simply posing a distant, abstract risk.

The remarks, delivered to the CSU, the Bavarian sister party to Merz's own Christian Democrats, placed the Russia warning inside a broader argument about the pressures weighing on Germany from multiple directions at once.

## A Two-Front Squeeze

Merz framed Germany's current predicament as pressure coming from both extremist parties at home and foreign enemies abroad, tying domestic political polarization directly to the external threat he said Russia represents. That framing casts stability itself, political and social, as something actively under attack rather than simply something to be maintained through routine governance.

## A Call to Push Through Reform

Rather than pairing the warning with new defense announcements, Merz used the moment to argue that mainstream parties carry a responsibility to push through economic reforms as a way of reinforcing Germany's social stability, suggesting he sees domestic economic resilience as part of the same defense against destabilization as more traditional security measures.

## Why It Matters

Coming from the chancellor himself, rather than a defense minister or intelligence chief, the warning carries extra political weight, and lands alongside a string of recent German security alerts tied to Russia, from raised sabotage threat levels to espionage arrests. By linking that external danger explicitly to the rise of extremist parties at home, Merz is making the case that holding the political center together is itself a matter of national security, not just domestic politics as usual.

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Originally published by Berlin Today. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://berlintoday.eu/article/merz-warns-of-massive-threat-from-russia-says-germany-is-under-pressure-from-both-sides.