Germany's conservative coalition, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), has taken the lead in the country's 2025 federal election, according to preliminary results released by German public broadcaster ARD on Sunday evening.
According to ARD's latest vote counts, CDU/CSU secured 28.5 percent of the vote, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 20.6 percent and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 16.5 percent.
The Greens came in fourth with 11.8 percent, ahead of Die Linke with 8.7 percent. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) are projected to receive 4.4 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.
The election will determine the composition of the next Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament. A party must receive at least 5 percent of the national vote to gain representation in the Bundestag.
According to ARD, voter turnout during this election reached 84 percent, the highest level since 1990. The newly elected parliament will select Germany's next chancellor following coalition negotiations among parties.
Friedrich Merz, chancellor candidate of the CDU/CSU, vowed to move swiftly to form a new government. \"Tonight we will celebrate and from tomorrow we start working,\" Merz said after the vote. \"The world out there is not waiting for us.\"
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged the SPD's historic defeat and stated that he would remain in office until a new coalition government is formed.
\"This is a bitter election result for the Social Democratic Party, it is also an electoral defeat,\" Scholz said. \"I have the responsibility for the election result.\"
'Unity in Europe'
Hitherto seen as an atlanticist, Merz took aim at the U.S. at a time when the Trump administration criticized Europe for not spending enough on defense and courted the AfD, with which mainstream German parties refuse to cooperate.
In blunt remarks after his victory, he blasted the \"ultimately outrageous\" comments coming from Washington during the campaign.
Merz's \"absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that we can achieve real independence from the USA step by step,\" he added.
He even ventured to ask whether the next summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has underpinned Europe's security for decades, would still see \"NATO in its current form.\"
Merz's broadside against the U.S. came despite President Donald Trump welcoming the election outcome.
\"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 on Truth Social.
Merz is heading into coalition talks without a strong negotiating hand. While his CDU/CSU emerged as the largest bloc, it scored its second worst post-war result.
It remains uncertain whether Merz will need one or two partners to form a majority, with the fate of smaller parties unclear in a way that could complicate parliamentary arithmetic.
Reference(s):
Germany's CDU/CSU leads federal election: preliminary results
cgtn.com
