German election: Friedrich Merz urges ‘independence’ from US – DW (English)
Source: DW (English)
Germany’s electoral authority declared the CDU/CSU conservative bloc as the winner in preliminary results. Conservative leader Friedrich Merz urged Europe to distance itself from the US.
CDU/CSU candidate Merz slams Trump and Musk, says Europe needs independence
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Friedrich Merz’s CDU/CSU conservative alliance has won the general election with 28.6% of the vote, according to preliminary results announced by Germany’s federal electoral body.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured 20.8% of the vote, which is the party’s strongest result to date at the federal level.
Outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats’ (SPD) share of the vote dropped to 16.4%, putting them at third place.
The SPD’s junior coalition partner, the environmentalist Greens, won 11.6%.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) netted only 4.3%, meaning that it will not enter the Bundestag as it did not pass the 5% threshold for representation in parliament. The same goes for the left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which got 4.97%.
The socialist Left Party achieved 8.8% of the vote.
Here are the latest projections of German election results, updated in real time.
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Berlin Culture Minister Joe Chialo of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said that Germans were “hungry” for a functioning government in comments to DW.
The CDU under Friedrich Merz has won Germany’s general election, according to early results after vote counting ended.
Friedrich Merz’s CDU/CSU conservative alliance has won Germany’s general election with 28.6% of the vote, according to early results after vote counting concluded.
At second place was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which doubled its share of the vote, winning 20.8%.
Preliminary results showed that outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) received 16.4% in a historic low for the party.
The SPD’s junior coalition partner, the environmentalist Greens, also saw a drop in support, netting 11.6%.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), who left Scholz’s coalition in November, received 4.3% of the vote, meaning the party failed to pass the minimum threshold to enter parliament.
The socialist Left Party jumped up to 8.8% of the vote in the preliminary tally.
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Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the EU parliament for the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), told DW that a “long night” was ahead of the party as it waited to see whether it would manage to enter the Bundestag.
Preliminary results show the FDP at 4.3% of the vote, which put it under the 5% minimum threshold for representation in parliament.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who is likely to become Germany’s next chancellor, won his own constituency in the general election.
He won 47.7% of the votes in the electoral district of Hochsauerland in the western state of North-Rhein Westphalia, well ahead of SPD challenger Dirk Wiese, who received 21.4%.
Under Germany’s electoral system, voters cast a vote for a candidate in their local constituency and a separate vote for a party list.
Meanwhile, outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD also won his own district in the city of Potsdam, just southwest of Berlin.
Scholz secured 21.8% of the vote, narrowly defeating CDU candidate Tabea Gutschmidt, who received 20.6%, as well as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens, who netted 15.9%.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens also failed to secure his seat in Flensburg in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein and was defeated by CDU candidate Petra Nicolaisen.
AfD leader Alice Weidel did not win her Lake Constance district in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg.
Baerbock, Habeck and Weidel are still guaranteed to win seats in the Bundestag via party lists.
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CDU leader Friedrich Merz is likely to become Germany’s next chancellor after his party become the largest in parliament, according to preliminary results.
He warned against holding “long drawn-out coalition negotiations” before a new government is formed.
The left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) has not achieved representation in the Bundestag, according to preliminary results.
The BSW received 4,972% of the vote, putting it narrowly beneath the 5% minimum threshold required to enter parliament.
2025 is the party’s first general election as it split from the socialist Left Party early last year.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) also failed to pass the 5% threshold after netting a preliminary result of 4.3%.
With fewer parties entering the Bundestag, larger partie
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