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US president Donald Trump has hailed Sunday as a “great day for Germany” after an election in which conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz has claimed victory.
Exit polls have now been published in Germany’s election, suggesting frontrunner Merz’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party has come out well in front, as the far-right AfD makes large gains.
In polling being watched closely across Europe and in the United States, the CDU/CSU bloc was on course to win first place with 28.5 per cent of the vote, followed by AfD with 20 per cent, marking the far-right party’s strongest result ever, public broadcaster ZDF reported.
Incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) garnered just 16.5 per cent of the vote, its worst-ever result, the projection showed.
Claiming victory, although the final official result is expected early on Monday, Merz said Germany‘s conservatives will do everything they can to form a government capable of taking action as quickly as possible.
Following the exit polls, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social: “Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration.”
But Merz took aim at the US president in blunt remarks after his victory, criticising the “ultimately outrageous” comments flowing from Washington during the campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions from Russia.
German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the snap election, the fourth in Germany’s history, after Scholz lost a vote of confidence on 15 January.
Germany’s election was dominated by worries about the years-long stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy and with pressure to curb migration.
It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the US.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 23:30
The Social Democrats’ general secretary, Matthias Miersch, suggested that the defeat was no surprise after three years of the unpopular government.
“This election wasn’t lost in the last eight weeks,” he said.
The projections, based on exit polls and partial counting, put support for Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats at just over 16 per cent, far lower than in the last election.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looks on during the Social Democratic Party (SPD) election event in Berlin (EPA)
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 23:01
Germany’s conservatives won the national election on Sunday but a fractured vote handed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) its best ever result in second place and left conservative leader Friedrich Merz facing messy coalition talks.
Merz, who has no previous experience in office, is set to become chancellor with Europe’s largest economy ailing, its society split over migration and its security caught between a confrontational US and an assertive Russia and China.
After the collapse of incumbent Olaf Scholz’s unloved coalition, Merz, 69, must forge a coalition from a fragmented parliament in a process that could take months.
His conservative bloc and other mainstream parties rule out working with the AfD, a party which has been endorsed by US figures including billionaire Elon Musk.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 22:30
Friedrich Merz took aim at the US in blunt remarks after his expected victory, criticising the “ultimately outrageous” comments flowing from Washington during the election campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions from Russia.
“So we are under such massive pressure from two sides that my absolute priority now is to achieve unity in Europe. It is possible to create unity in Europe,” he told a roundtable with other leaders.
Merz’s broadside against the US came despite President Donald Trump welcoming the conservative victory.
Hitherto seen as an atlanticist, Merz said Trump had shown his administration to be “largely indifferent to the fate of Europe”.
Merz’s “absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that we can achieve real independence from the USA step by step”, he added.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 21:57
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated the CDU/CSU bloc and Friedrich Merz on their expected victory in the German elections, calling it “important” for Europe.
Writing on X this evening, he said: “I congratulate the CDU/CSU and @_FriedrichMerz on their victory in the Bundestag elections. A clear voice from the voters, and we see how important this is for Europe.
“We look forward to continuing our joint work with Germany to protect lives, bring real peace closer to Ukraine, and strengthen Europe.
“Europe must be able to defend itself, develop its industries, and achieve the necessary results. Europe needs shared successes, and those success will bring even greater unity to Europe.”
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 21:44
Germany’s conservative election winner Friedrich Merz said his top priority was to work towards unity in Europe in order to counter interference from the United States or Russia.
He had no illusions about challenges in the relationship with the US, Merz said in a panel at broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
“The interventions from Washington were no less dramatic and drastic and ultimately outrageous than the interventions we have seen from Moscow,” he said, in reference to support offered by US billionaire Elon Musk to Germany’s far right during the election.
Friedrich Merz addresses supporters after the first exit polls in the German general elections were announced (AFP via Getty Images)
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 21:33
Germany’s opposition conservatives won the national election on Sunday, putting leader Friedrich Merz on track to be the next chancellor while the far-right Alternative for Germany came in second on its best ever result, projected results showed.
Here is some international reaction to the results.
US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ON TRUTH SOCIAL
“Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration, that has prevailed for so many years. This is a great day for Germany.”
GREECE PRIME MINISTER KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS ON X
“A decisive victory for our political family, for Germany, and for Europe. Congratulations Friedrich Merz! One thing is clear: you will be Germany’s next chancellor”.
CZECH PRIME MINISTER PETR FIALA ON X
“Congratulations to Friedrich Merz and the CDU/CSU on winning the German elections. I wish you a lot of strength and success in forming the federal government. I look forward to the further deepening of Czech-German cooperation and joint work on a stronger Europe.”
HERBERT KICKL, LEADER OF AUSTRIAN FAR-RIGHT FREEDOM PARTY
“As of today, there is a gaping hole in the firewall of he parties of the system, which is really a wall of fear against the will of the people and of democratic change – caused by the hopes of people fed up with being patronised, with illegal mass immigration, and the Islamist terror and security chaos resulting from it, climate communism and the destruction of prosperity.
“Today, a gentle, soothing wind of the freedom of 1989 is blowing through Berlin and the entire Federal Republic.”
MATTEO SALVINI, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY
“Change is winning in Germany too! AfD doubles its votes, despite attacks and lies from the left: stop illegal immigration and Islamic fanaticism, enough with the eco-madness, prioritize peace and jobs, Europe must be radically changed.
“Well done (AfD co-leader) Alice Weidel, keep it up!”
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 21:00
The leader of Germany’s Free Democrats (FDP), Christian Lindner, will leave politics if his party does not make it into the new parliament, he said in a post-election panel discussion aired by public broadcasters on Sunday.
“If the FDP leaves the Bundestag, it is quite clear that I will also leave politics,” said Lindner, who served as finance minister until the collapse of the coalition government. “If my political career ends tomorrow, I will leave with only one feeling: gratitude.”
More than two hours after polling stations closed, it remained unclear whether the FDP would get over the 5 per cent threshold needed to enter parliament.
Germany’s liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) leader and the party’s top candidate Christian Lindner takes part in an election night TV talk show (via REUTERS)
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 20:40
Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not take part in coalition negotiations with the conservative bloc if Friedrich Merz invites the Social Democrats, Scholz said on Sunday.
“I will not be a SPD representative in a federal government led by the CDU, nor will I negotiate it,” said Scholz in a post-election panel discussion aired by public broadcasters.
Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor and top candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), takes part in an election night TV talk show on Sunday (via REUTERS)
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 20:20
For the first time since the Second World War, a far-right party has come second in a German national election, a result that will keep it outside government but make it a fearsome opponent of the ruling parties.
The Alternative for Germany, which has morphed since it was founded in 2013 from a party of libertarian economists to an anti-immigration, pro-Russia group, is forecast to have won the backing of one-in-five Germans.
The AfD has little chance of joining the government as the other parties maintain a “fire wall” to keep it out of office, but leader Alice Weidel implied in her victory speech that it was only a matter of time before that changed.
“Our hand remains outstretched to form a government,” she told supporters, adding that it would be tantamount to “electoral fraud” if the first-placed conservatives chose to govern with left-wing parties rather than them.
If that happened, she said, “next time we’ll come first.”
Weidel, the leader of a nativist party that preaches traditional family values while raising her children with a Swiss-based woman of Sri Lankan background, said the AfD was now “a mainstream party”.
Once internationally isolated, it now has an ally in the White House, where Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, regularly posts his support.
“It’s the most amazing feeling. I’ve been here since its founding and to see it on 20 per cent is amazing. We’ll be kept out of coalition, but as you can see, the conservatives are taking all of our positions,” said Gilbert Kalb, an AfD member celebrating at the party’s headquarters.
Leader of far right AfD Alice Weidel waves a German flag at her party’s headquarters in Berlin on Sunday after the German national election (AP)
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 19:59