Friedrich Merz’s conservatives have won Germany’s election, well ahead of rival parties but short of the 30% vote share they had expected.
The other winner was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who are celebrating a record second-place result of 20.8%.
As results came in during the early hours of Monday, it became clear the AfD was far ahead of the other parties in the east, with a projected 34% according to a survey for public broadcaster ZDF.
“Let’s celebrate tonight and in the morning we’ll get to work,” he told cheering supporters. He said he was “aware of the responsibility that now lies ahead” of him.
With over 28% of the vote, his CDU/CSU bloc handily defeated Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) celebrated a record of over 20%.
The conservatives will first enter talks without Scholz, who apologized for a “bitter” defeat at 16%, while his popular defense minister, Boris Pistorius, was expected to play a more central role.
Friedrich Merz vowed to get to work Monday on the arduous task of building a new coalition government, warning “the world isn’t waiting for us”.
Merz has warned against more paralysis in Berlin at a time when US President Donald Trump is driving head-spinning change, the German economy is in recession, and society is split after a polarising campaign.
Speaking late Sunday, his victory dampened by a far-right surge, Merz said a united Europe must build up its defenses as he had “no illusions at all about what is coming out of America”.
