German Minister for Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel | Alexander Koerner/Getty Images Sigmar Gabriel: Macron win means Germany must ‘do more’ for EU The German foreign minister said centrist’s victory posed a ‘challenge’ to Germany’s EU leadership.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Monday that while Emmanuel Macron's victory was "a good day" for France, Germany and the EU, it also posed a "challenge" to Germany's EU leadership.

Speaking to Rhine-Neckar-Zeitung, Gabriel hinted that Macron's pro-EU stance meant Germany would not lead the bloc on its own. The foreign minister said Macron's victory "is also an order for us Germans. We will have to do more for Europe instead of just raising an index finger."

Gabriel, of the Social Democrats, criticized Germany's insistence on economic austerity and emphasized that German leadership must change tack. He said austerity "destroys investment in growth and does not produce more, but fewer jobs. That is why the time of financial-political orthodoxy must be over."

Macron has pledged a commitment to fiscal discipline. He said he is in favor of EU countries, including France, sticking to the EU-mandated deficit target of no more than 3 percent of gross domestic product, and has promised to reduce spending by cutting up to 120,000 government jobs.

Former leftist Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis criticized Macron's eurozone policy of playing “straight into the hands of [German Finance Minister] Wolfgang Schaüble’s grand plan for a permanent austerity union,” but praised him for being "the only one who tried to help Greece" during Varoufakis' short tenure in 2015.