The Latest: Opposition leader Merz’s headed to form Germany's next government

Germany's mainstream conservatives won the country's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest party, according to provisional results following Sunday’s election.

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory and Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, had the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

The results released by the electoral authority showed the conservative CDU/CSU 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.

A left-wing party, the 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%.

The election came as Germany and the rest of Europe grapple with the new Trump administration, the Russia-Ukraine war and security across the continent.

Here’s the latest:

Merz aims to form new government by Easter

Friedrich Merz says he wants to form a new government by Easter, though it’s not yet clear how easy that will be.

Merz said in a televised appearance with other party leaders Sunday evening: “We have nearly eight weeks until Easter now, and I think that should be enough time — the maximum time — to form a government in Germany.”

Merz noted that, by then, Germany won’t have had a government with a parliamentary majority for nearly six months.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s outgoing government will remain in office on a caretaker basis until the Bundestag elects the new chancellor.

Trump calls election result ‘a great day for Germany’

President Donald Trump has called the election result “a great day for Germany” in a Truth Social post. He didn’t name a party in his post.

“Looks like the conservative party in Germany has won the very big and highly anticipated election,” he wrote.

The Union bloc is the conservative party, and won the election. However, Trump ally Elon Musk endorsed AfD before the election, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance met with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on the sidelines of a recent conference in Germany.

“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 in a post that was entirely in capital letters.

▶ Read more about AfD’s rise