Conservative Friedrich Merz wins German election

Friedrich Merz is the clear winner of the German election.

- Bertrand Benoit

The question now for the conservative leader is how fast and with whom he can cobble together a government—and whether the U.S. will seek to influence the process.

Despite a historically strong showing by antiestablishment nationalists in a ballot that extended Europe's recent lurch to the right, Merz's Christian Democratic Union scored a comfortable victory once all ballots had been counted.

This means Merz this week will start talks on forming a government, at the end of which he is likely to become Germany's next chancellor and a central interlocutor for President Trump in Europe—but the way there could be rocky.

"The world out there is not waiting for us. And it is not waiting for lengthy coalition talks and negotiations," Merz told supporters in Berlin. "We must quickly regain our ability to act so that we can do what's needed at home, regain our voice in Europe and ensure that the world sees Germany as reliable again."

The CDU and its CSU sister party in Bavaria obtained 28.5% of the vote, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, with 20.8%. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party scored 16.4%, its worst score since the late 19th century.

Facing strong economic and geopolitical headwinds, Europe is under pressure to quickly coordinate a response to Trump's tariff threats and his plans to end the war in Ukraine on terms that many European capitals fear could be unacceptably generous to Moscow and undermine their own security.

France and Germany have been hamstrung in recent months after their respective governments lost their parliamentary majorities. Merz's election as chancellor would mark a first step toward Europe rebuilding a more stable leadership.