The conservatives are set to win Germany’s federal election, initial results show. What’s the reaction and what happens next?
Germany’s election winner Friedrich Merz has vowed to rule Europe’s largest economy by returning to his Christian Democrat party’s conservative roots, ease restraints on business and crack down on irregular immigration.
Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) celebrated a record election result Sunday that fuelled its wildest hopes of one day entering government, a horror scenario for its many foes.
The centre-right CDU/CSU bloc is on course to win Germany’s federal election, initial exit polls showed on Sunday.
Sporting a cap with the Trump-inspired slogan “Make Duisburg Great Again”, AfD candidate Alan Imamura was upbeat as he campaigned for the far-right party in Germany’s ailing industrial heartland.
Germans began voting Sunday in a pivotal election, with the conservatives the strong favourites after a campaign rocked by a far-right surge and the dramatic return of US President Donald Trump.
Russian dissident punk band Pussy Riot played at a pro-Ukraine protest in Berlin on Saturday, on the eve of German elections as the war nears three years.
Germany’s conservative election frontrunner Friedrich Merz promised Saturday in his last rally before Sunday’s elections that if he takes power he will be a “strong voice in the European Union”.
German voters head to the polls in a winter election on Sunday but may not have a new government for some time.
The Berlin film festival is set to hand out its awards on Saturday, with a selection of 19 films and documentaries competing for the top Golden Bear prize.