Conservatives claim victory in German election as far-right AfD finishes second

Centre-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz of Germany’s opposition conservatives has claimed victory in national elections, while exit polls suggested that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has come in second.

Following a campaign roiled by a series of violent attacks, and interventions by US President Donald Trump’s administration, the conservative CDU/CSU bloc won 28.5 per cent of Sunday’s vote, followed by the AfD with 20 per cent, an exit poll published by ZDF public broadcaster showed.

Merz, 69, has no previous government experience but has promised to provide greater leadership than Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who conceded defeat, and to liaise more with key allies, restoring Germany to the political heart of Europe.

A brash economic liberal who has shifted the conservative CDU party to the right, he is considered the antithesis of the party’s former leader, conservative chancellor Angela Merkel, who led Germany for 16 years.

In his victory speech, Merz said the result showed Germany was “present in Europe again” and would be reliably governed.

Short of a majority in an increasingly fragmented political landscape, however, his conservatives will have to sound out partners to form a coalition.

Those negotiations are certain to be tricky after a campaign that exposed sharp divisions over migration and how to deal with the AfD in a country where far-right politics carry a particularly strong stigma due to the country’s Nazi past.

That could leave Scholz in a caretaker role for months, delaying urgently needed policies to revive Europe’s largest economy after two consecutive years of contraction and as companies struggle against global rivals.