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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.
“Tonight we will celebrate and from tomorrow we start working,” he said in a first reaction in Berlin, surrounded by supporters.
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.”
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.
FDP chief Lindner to leave politics if his party drops out of parliament
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.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 20:40
Germany’s Scholz: will not negotiate new government with Merz
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.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 20:20
‘Next time we’ll come first’: German far-right celebrates breakthrough
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.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 19:59
Trump hails ‘great day for Germany’ after conservatives win election
US president Donald Trump hailed Sunday as a “great day for Germany” after an election in which the centre-right opposition won first place followed by the far-right AfD with its strongest result ever.
“Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “This is a great day for Germany.”
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 19:34
Germany’s Merz: We want to form a government representing the whole country
Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz, poised to become the new chancellor after his conservative bloc won most votes in the parliamentary election, said he would try to form a government that represents the whole country.
Merz repeated that there would not be a coalition with the far-right AfD party.
Leading German conservative does not see coalition with Greens
Markus Soeder, premier of Germany’s Bavaria state and leader of the CSU party, said he had no hope a government could work with the Greens as projections see his conservative coalition with the CDU as the winner of the general election on Sunday.
Soeder, who already had ruled out a coalition with the Greens before the snap election, pointed to the party’s immigration policies, which are at odds with the conservatives’ demands for a tougher line.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 19:05
German foreign minister says country needs strong government
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said a strong Europe and a strong government were needed after the far-right AfD doubled its share of votes in Germany’s snap election on Sunday, according to projections by major broadcasters.
Baerbock, a prominent member of the Greens, added that democratic parties must now act in unison.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 18:57
AfD ‘open’ to coalition negotiations with CDU, says Weidel
The AfD is “open” to coalition negotiations with the CDU, the far-right party’s leader Alice Weidel has said.
In her first comments since exit polls showed a huge surge in support for the AfD, she said: “We are open to coalition negotiations with the CDU.”
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 18:40
