Hello, I'm Paige and this is the Eurointelligence podcast covering current affairs in the EU and Eurozone.

I'm joined by Wolfgang and Susanna, directors of Eurointelligence in Oxford.

Very busy week in European politics, guys, we had a couple crises in Italy and the Netherlands,

and in Germany there was the CDU leadership election. Today we found out that Armand Lashet came out on top.

Wolfgang, where does this leave the candidacy for Chancellor?

Well, that's obviously the right question to ask at this point.

Because if you, you know, asked the question before today's,

or we are speaking Saturday today, but before today's vote, we would have said that the best scenario for Marcus Zodo, the chairman of the CSU, would be for Lashett to win with a very narrow majority.

Now, what happened today is that Lashard won with a very narrow majority.

So you could say, and I, you know, I would say that Marcus Suda is certainly

still in the running for this job. But it's not going to be, I don't think it's going to be

another contest like this one here. The CDU, CSU doesn't usually settle it like that. In 1980,

there was a time when there was a, at least for

some period, a contest, but that was ultimately settled behind closed doors. In 2002, when

Edmund Stuyber became the joint candidacy, also a CSU chairman at the time, that was

settled privately between Merkel and him. And I would expect

the same to happen this time that Lashet and Zerda will sit together, have breakfast sometime in

late March, in the second half of March, and then decide the issue between them. The reason I'm saying

March is because there are two state

elections in the middle of March in the states of Rhineland Platonet and in Baden-Wurtenberg.

And in both of those states, the CDU is not in government. And question is at least not not mountain is at least

not the leading the leading party of government and in in those states the question is clearly

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