The Latest: Opposition leader Merz’s headed to form Germany's next government

Germany's mainstream conservatives won the country's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest party, according to provisional results following Sunday’s election.

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory and Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, had the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

Merz’s conservatives won 208 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag, while the AfD won 152. The three parties in the former governing coalition lost seats, with the center-left Social Democrats falling to 120 seats and the Greens to 85.

The Left party got 64 seats, while the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance came in just under the 5% hurdle. The pro-business Free Democrats, which triggered early elections by pulling out of the coalition, also failed to reach the 5% of the vote required to win seats.

The election came as Germany and the rest of Europe grapple with the new Trump administration, the Russia-Ukraine war and security across the continent.

Here’s the latest:

A political career once sidelined by iconic Angela Merkel

The top job has been late in coming for Friedrich Merz, a lawyer by profession, who saw his ascent derailed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel in the early 2000s and even turned his back on active politics for several years.

Merkel has described Merz as a brilliant speaker and complimented his desire for leadership, though she acknowledged this was a problem in their relationship.

“We are almost the same age ... We grew up completely differently, which was more of an opportunity than an obstacle,” she wrote in her memoir “Freedom.”

“But there was one problem, right from the start: We both wanted to be the boss,” she said.

Merz aims to form new government by Easter

Friedrich Merz says he wants to form a new government by Easter, though it’s not yet clear how easy that will be.

Merz said in a televised appearance with other party leaders Sunday evening: “We have nearly eight weeks until Easter now, and I think that should be enough time — the maximum time — to form a government in Germany.”

Merz noted that, by then, Germany won’t have had a government with a parliamentary majority for nearly six months.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s outgoing government will remain in office on a caretaker basis until the Bundestag elects the new chancellor.

Trump calls election result ‘a great day for Germany’

President Donald Trump has called the election result “a great day for Germany” in a Truth Social post. He didn’t name a party in his post.

“Looks like the conservative party in Germany has won the very big and highly anticipated election,” he wrote.

The Union bloc is the conservative party, and won the election. However, Trump ally Elon Musk endorsed AfD before the election, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance met with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on the sidelines of a recent conference in Germany.

“Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration, that has prevailed for so many years,” Trump wrote in a post that was entirely in capital letters.

▶ Read more about AfD’s rise