Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and faction, Friedrich Merz, delivers a statement at the German parliament ‘Bundestag’ in Berlin, Germany, in January. Merz was elected Germany’s next chancellor Sunday. Photo by Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE
Millions of Germans are deciding the next chancellor in snap elections Sunday with the center-right Christian Democratic Union party widely projected to win and its candidate Friedrich Merz installed as the top official.
“We fought a tough election campaign about important topics … now we will talk to each other. We must be able to act quickly,” Merz said. While the CDU is celebrating its victory, the result was split three ways and won with less than 30% of the vote, according to the German elections website. Advertisement
The party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz finished in third place with 16.2% of the votes, its worst showing at the polls in more than a decade and presages a decidedly more conservative trend in the country.
While far more conservative than the current administration, the CDU is more moderate than the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which garnered 20.2% of the vote — which performed twice as well as the last election four years ago.
Germany, which boasts Europe’s largest and most robust economy, and its decisive vote for the CDU mirrors an international shift toward the social and political right on the continent and in the United States where Donald Trump won decisively in the 2024 elections, a move away from a more liberal Biden administration. Advertisement
The AfD could see even more gains in the future, its leaders say.
“We see that the upcoming generation in Germany is voting often for the AfD, because this generation is directly confronted with the big problems of our society — migration problems, migration dynamics,” party member Hannes Gnauck said, according to CNN.
“They are also confronted with the economy. Therefore so many young people are choosing the AfD.”
The AfD’s performance in the election is drawing praise from other conservative leaders, including French TV pundit Éric Zemmour, who has been cited for incidents of hate speech on multiple occasions.
Zemmour ran for president in 2022 on a campaign promise to “save France” from Islam.
This was the highest turnout for a German election since reunification in 1990. Polling organizations put the number as high as 84%.
