- The conservative chief Friedrich Merz leaves the United States.
- AFD notes the historical result but the extreme right party will be rejected.
- Coalition conversations could last months, leaving the void in the EU heart.
Friedrich Merz, became the next German chancellor after his opposition conservatives won the national elections on Sunday, promised to help give Europe “real independence” of the United States while preparing to improvise a government.
Merz, 69, faces complex and long negotiations of the coalition after the extreme right -wing alternative for Germany (AFD) to a second historical place in a fractured vote after the collapse of the alliance to three non -loved roads of Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz .
Conventional parties download to work with the AFD that enjoyed the support of prominent figures from the United States, including Elon Musk, the technological billionaire of President Donald Trump.
Merz, who has no previous experience in office, will become chancellor with the largest economy in sick Europe, his society was divided over migration and his security trapped between an American confrontational and an assertive Russia and China.
Merz pointed to the United States in blunt comments after his victory, criticizing the “final scandalous” comments that flow from Washington during the campaign, comparing them with hostile interventions in Russia.
“So we are under a massive pressure of two sides that my absolute priority is now to achieve unity in Europe. It is possible to create unity in Europe,” he told a round table with other leaders.
Merz's side against the United States occurred despite the fact that President Donald Trump welcomed the result of the elections.
“Like the United States, the people of Germany tired of the common senseless agenda, especially in energy and immigration, which has prevailed for so many years,” Trump wrote in Truth Social.
Until now seen as an Atlantic, Merz said Trump had shown that his administration was “largely indifferent to the destiny of Europe.”
Merz's “absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that we can achieve real independence from the United States step by step,” he added.
He even ventured to ask if the next summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has supported the security of Europe for decades, would still see “NATO in its current form.”
After a campaign razed by violent attacks by which migrant history were arrested, the CDU/CSU conservative block won 28.5% of the votes, followed by the AFD with 20.5%, said a projection published at night by ZDF Broadcaster
The AFD, which seems to double its previous vote score, saw the result of Sunday as only a beginning.
“Our hand remains extended to form a government,” said leader Alice Weidel to the followers, and added “the next time we go first.”
Merz juggling act
Merz goes to coalition conversations without a strong negotiation hand. While his CDU/CSU emerged as the largest block, he obtained his second worst postwar result.
It is still uncertain if Merz will need one or two partners to form a majority, with the fate of the smallest parties in a way that could mix parliamentary arithmetic.
Another three -road coalition would probably be much more difficult to handle, which hinders Germany's ability to show clear leadership.
The Social Democrats of Foreign Minister Scholz (SPD) fell to their worst result since World War II, with 16.5% of the participation of votes, and Scholz granted a “bitter” result, according to the ZDF projection, while the greens were in the 11.8%.
The strong support, particularly the younger voters, led the Linke party of extreme left to 8.7% of the votes.
The party of the Democrats Free Pro-Market (FDP) and the newcomer Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) rolled the threshold of 5% to enter the Parliament.
“A tripartious coalition runs the risk of more confusing and more stagnation unless all the parties involved realize that this is the last opportunity to achieve a change and prevent the AFD from strengthening,” said Carsten Brzeski, head of Global Banking macro. ING GROUP.
“While the new government does not bring a significant change, foreign investments will also be delayed, weakening the economic perspectives of Germany.”
The participation of voters at 83% was the highest since before reunification in 1990, according to output surveys. The male voters tended more to the right, while the female voters showed greater support for the leftist matches.
Scholz caregiver
Merz, a shameless economic liberal who has transferred the conservatives to the right, is considered the antithesis of former conservative chancellor Angela Merkel, who directed Germany for 16 years.
Merz conditionally supports Ukraine's equipment with greater scope Taurus missiles, a step from the Scholz government avoided and sees Europe as firmly anchored in NATO.
Sunday's elections occurred after the collapse last November of the Scholz coalition of its SPD, the Greens and the FDP Pro-Mercado consecutive for the budgetary expenditure.
Long coalition conversations could leave Scholz in a caretaker role for months, delaying the necessary policies urgently to revive the German economy after two consecutive years of contraction already measure that companies fight against world rivals.
A delay would also create a leadership vacuum in the heart of Europe, even when it deals with a series of challenges such as Trump that threatens a commercial war and tries to accelerate a high fire agreement for Ukraine without European participation.
