Provisional results in Germany’s election confirmed that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany’s national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest.
The campaign was dominated by worries about the yearslong stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy and pressure to curb migration — something that caused friction after Merz pushed hard in recent weeks for a tougher approach. It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States.
The results released by the electoral authority showed the conservative Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats winning a combined majority of seats in the national legislature after small parties failed to make the electoral threshold.
The left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, came in just barely under the 5% hurdle needed to get seats in parliament, while the pro-business Free Democrats also failed to reach 5%.
