Name: Conservatives Win German Election While AfD Surges to 2nd Place
Uploaded: 2025-02-24T15:13:44.000Z
Description: BERLIN—Provisional results confirmed that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany’s national election, while the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party surged to become the nation’s second-largest.

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BERLIN—Provisional results confirmed that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany’s national election, while the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party surged to become the nation’s second-largest.

Merz, who’s promising to unite Europe in the face of challenges from both Russia and the United States, is expected to become the country’s next leader. He'll likely partner with the center-left Social Democrats, who suffered a stinging defeat after their coalition collapsed.

The campaign was dominated by worries about the yearslong stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy and pressure to curb migration, something that caused friction after Merz pushed hard in recent weeks for a tougher approach. It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States.

The results released by the electoral authority showed Merz’s Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats winning a combined majority of seats in the national legislature after small parties failed to make the electoral threshold.

Merz said on election night that he hopes to form a government by Easter at the latest. He has ruled out a coalition with AfD, which is now the country’s second-largest party.

For the time being, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democratic party suffered a stinging defeat, will stay on as head of a caretaker government.

Merz’s conservatives won 208 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag, while the AfD won 152. The three parties in the former governing coalition lost seats, with the SDP falling to 120 seats and the Greens to 85. The pro-business Free Democrats, which triggered early elections by pulling out of the coalition, failed to reach the 5 percent of the vote required to win seats.

The Left party got 64 seats, while the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance came in just under the 5 percent hurdle.

The AfD was jubilant on Sunday night, with leaders vowing to become the country’s main party in the next election as its appeal expands. The party has established itself as a significant political force in the 12 years since it was founded, but it hasn’t yet been part of any state or national government.

The election took place seven months earlier than originally planned after Scholz’s unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates.

Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of NATO. It has been Ukraine’s second-biggest weapons supplier, after the United States, and will be central to shaping the continent’s response to the challenges of the coming years.

Merz said that “the most important thing is to reestablish a viable government in Germany as quickly as possible.”

“I am aware of the responsibility,” Merz said. “I am also aware of the scale of the task that now lies ahead of us. I approach it with the utmost respect, and I know that it will not be easy.”

“The world out there isn’t waiting for us, and it isn’t waiting for long-drawn-out coalition talks and negotiations,” he told cheering supporters.

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