POLITICS
Conservatives win German election
February 24, 2025 - Friedrich Merz’s conservatives have won the most votes in Germany’s general election, but a dramatic surge by the far-right AfD is likely to complicate the formation of a government.
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The conservative CDU/CSU bloc came in first place on 28.6%, ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany on 20.8%, its best ever result, according to provisional results.
The conservatives, however, rule out working with the AfD, a party which is monitored by German security services on suspicion of extremism but has been endorsed by U.S. figures including billionaire Elon Musk.
That means Merz will have to negotiate with Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) to form a coalition in talks that are likely to take months, Reuters reports.