Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) have won the country’s federal elections, latest projections show – as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) scores its best-ever result and Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party collapses.
The leader of the CDU/CSU bloc, Friedrich Merz, who will most likely become Germany’s next chancellor, said he would work on forming a government as soon as possible, though it is not yet clear how easy that will be.
Speaking on Sunday evening, Mr Merz said: “We have nearly eight weeks until Easter now, and I think that should be enough time – the maximum time – to form a government in Germany.”
As it happened: Conservatives and far-right set for record vote shares
The projections, based on exit polls and partial counting, show the CDU/CSU took the largest share of the vote with 28.5%, while the AfD won a record 20.8% – its best result in a federal election since its formation in 2013.
Mr Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) collapsed to third with an expected 16.4% – its worst post-war election result – while its previous coalition partners the Greens took 11.6%.
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In some surprise results, the hard-left Left Party surged clear of 5% – the minimum vote share needed to get seats in the Bundestag – while the newly-founded left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) fell just short.
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The Free Democratic Party (FDP), a former coalition partner and liberal party, also saw its vote collapse to 4.4%, taking them out of parliament.
Despite the AfD’s result, Mr Merz’s bloc and the rest of the mainstream parties have ruled out working with the far-right as part of a long-running pact known as the “firewall”.
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‘The world out there is not waiting’
Mr Merz faces complex coalition negotiations and whether he will need one or two partners to form a pact will depend on how many parties get into parliament.
The 69-year-old admitted it would “not be easy”, adding: “The most important thing is to re-establish a viable government in Germany as quickly as possible… The world out there is not waiting for us.”
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Later on Sunday, while appearing on a German broadcaster’s post-election panel of party leaders, Mr Merz took aim at Donald Trump and said the US president’s administration has shown itself to be “largely indifferent to the fate of Europe”.
He called the comments made by American officials during negotiations on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine “ultimately outrageous” – and said: “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.”
After exit polls showed the CDU/CSU bloc in the lead, the US president said it was a “great day” for Germany.
He wrote on Truth Social that the “people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration”.
‘We have arrived’
Alice Weidel, the AfD’s co-leader and chancellor nominee, hailed her party’s results and said “our hand remains outstretched to form a government” – despite the “firewall” pact.
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“We have arrived as a party of the people,” she told a crowd, before saying that without the AfD in coalition, “no change of policy is possible in Germany”.
Co-leader Tino Chrupalla added the party “achieved something historic today”, and said: “We are now the political centre and we have left the fringes behind us.”
After the exit poll was released, anti-fascist demonstrations broke out in Frankfurt and Berlin in protest at the far-right party’s performance.
‘Very bitter’ election for SPD
Conceding the election, Mr Scholz told voters that “the result is very bitter for the SPD”.
While still chancellor until the government votes on his replacement, he added he will not represent the party “in a federal government led by the CDU, nor will I negotiate for it”.
Meanwhile Christian Lindner – FDP party leader and former finance minister, whose dismissal by Mr Scholz led to the collapse of the coalition government – also resigned after a bruising night.
Posting on social media after it became clear his party would not meet the 5% vote threshold, he said: “The parliamentary elections brought defeat for the FDP but hopefully a new start for Germany. That’s what I fought for.
“Now I’m retiring from active politics. I have only one feeling: gratitude for almost 25 intense, challenging years full of productive work and debate.”
BSW narrowly out as Left surges
Founded in January last year, the BSW came just short of entering parliament with 4.9% of the vote.
But despite doubts the party could rally before the election, the Left Party made a comeback and surged to 8.8%.
Party candidate Heidi Reichinnek told German national broadcaster ARD: “I am so incredibly happy about our result.”
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And while the Greens still lost votes after its stint in the coalition, it recorded the smallest losses of the three parties – making Sunday’s vote “mixed” for the party’s chancellor, Robert Habeck.
He also said the vote showed “the centre is weakened overall, and everyone should look at themselves and ask whether they didn’t contribute to that”.
