EMMANUEL Macron has been praised to the skies by Armin Laschet, Angela Merkel's heir apparent, in a clear indication of where his sympathies will lie if he succeeds her as Germany's Chancellor.
| UPDATED: 12:51, Sat, Jan 23, 2021
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Germany: Armin Laschet wins vote to lead the CDU party Sign up to receive our rundown of the day's top stories direct to your inbox
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Hans-Olaf Henkel, who stepped down from the European Parliament in 2019, lamented the narrow defeat in Saturday’s CDU leadership contest of Friedrich Merz, describing him as the only senior German figure who understands what a colossal loss Brexit represents to the EU. Mr Laschet, Prime Minister of the North Rhine Westphalia region, defeated Mr Merz, a former member of the Bundestag who has since forged a successful business career, in the second round of voting by 521 votes to 466 in a ballot of 1,001 CDU delegates, with Norbert Roettgen having been knocked out after the first ballot.