Germany’s Friedrich Merz promised to “achieve independence” after his center-right wins the federal election, making him the head of a potentially complex alliance in Europe during turbulent times.
According to forecasts, in the elections moved to the right of Germany, the Christian Democrats of Meers (CDU/CSU) ranked first on Sunday with about 29% of the vote, but still need at least another joint partner to ensure a job. Parliamentary seats. .
Germany’s far-right alternative to Germany (AFD) ranks second, with the highest voting share ever at about 21%.
Within hours of the polls’ ended, Melz announced that Germany must fundamentally re-engineer its security arrangements and end its long-term reliance on Washington, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s fate on Europe “is basically Indifferent.”
“I have a close contact with many Prime Ministers – the head of the EU government. And it must be an absolute priority to strengthen Europe as soon as possible so that step by step, we have actually achieved independence from the United States.
“I wouldn’t think I had to say that. . . But after Donald Trump’s remarks, it’s clear that at least Americans in the U.S. government are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”
Meers said he was unsure of NATO’s future, and he also highlighted Washington’s intervention in the German election and compared it with Russian intervention.
Some content cannot be loaded. Check your Internet connection or browser settings.
The Trump administration has publicly proposed to the AFD and criticized mainstream German politicians for refusing to work with a party that flirted with Nazi-era slogans, urging an end to sanctions on Russia and calling for mass deportation of immigrants.
In recent weeks, Trump has ended the Ukrainian war by direct negotiations with Russia and threatened to withdraw U.S. security assurances from the African continent. Germany has the largest U.S. military force stationed in Europe.
Trump described the election results earlier Sunday as “the German people are tired of agenda without common sense, especially in terms of energy and immigration, which has been prevalent for so many years.”
Outgoing German vice-chancellor Robert Habeck said his country faces “historical challenges” and urgent action is needed. “The United States is not only abandoning Europe, but also striving to fight Europe,” the senior green politician said.
Merz has few choices, but forms a coalition with the Social Democratic Party of outgoing Prime Minister Olaf Scholz, which won over 16% of the vote, the worst since 1887 The result.
But on Sunday night, it was unclear whether Meers could negotiate a strong enough dominant majority to push for fundamental reforms, including revising the restrictions on constitutional provisions on public lending.
“I know the scale of the challenge ahead of us,” Meers said. “I treat this with the utmost respect. And I know it’s not easy.”
“We had a tough campaign, but now we’re going to talk to each other,” Meers said, adding that forming a league could be much more difficult than he expected on the campaign.
His political calculations complicate Melz’s traditional companion, the business-free Democrat (FDP), which of course hits the 5% threshold to enter the Bundestag.
Meanwhile, the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is on the cusp of Congress securing seats, which will make it impossible for Merz to establish a majority with SPD only. The Greens will be the most likely third party in the alliance.
Voters’ turnout rate reached the highest level since Germany’s reunification in 1990, at 84%.
The initial results on Germany’s right were huge after immigration caused a series of fatal attacks against immigration sentiment.
German voters avoid Scholz’s unpopular alliance with the Greens and the FDP. The eurozone’s largest economy has stagnated in the past two years as the German industry copes with high energy prices and Chinese competition.
AFD co-leader Alice Weidel celebrates the party nearly doubled its voting share from 2021 to secure Germany’s largest far-right gain since World War II.
“We led a grand movement,” Weider said, stressing that her party’s willingness to hold alliance talks with CDU/CSU to meet the “will of the people.”
Scholz said he would step back after a “painful result” while his Defense Secretary Boris Pistorius lamented “a devastating catastrophic result”.
After witnessing three years of infighting among senior members of the Scholz Fragile Alliance, the CDU and its strategist of Bavarian sister party made CSU a key goal to avoid the need for multiple partners to form a government.
Under the German electoral system, parties who won less than 5% of the vote were excluded from parliament and their votes were redistributed, strengthening successful groups.
Some content cannot be loaded. Check your Internet connection or browser settings.
Holger Schmieding, an economist at Berenberg Bank, warned that “serious risks” that marginal parties may be strong enough to prevent changes to the German constitution.
He added: “If so, they can veto any relaxation of the debt brakes adopted in the Constitution” and “it is crucial to increase military and Ukraine spending and reduce tax burdens for workers and companies”.
Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said on Sunday night that Germany “needs a government that is both capable and willing to act, and needs to be swift”.
Data visualization of Martin Stabe and Jonathan Vincent
