Leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz is set become Germany’s new Chancellor following the CDU’s victory with up to 29% of the vote in a snap election announced late last year. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) came second with 20% of vote despite strong backing from Elon Musk on his X.com platform. US Vice-President JD Vance also praised the AFD at the Munich Security Conference. SPD came third with 16% of the vote and the Greens followed with 12%. The far left- Die Linke got up to 9% of the vote.
Friedrich Merz is a strong supporter of Ukraine and pledged to provide it with long-range Taurus missiles if elected. He is also against the previous nuclear phase-out and is expected to switch back on German nuclear power stations. He condemned Elon Musk’s interference with the German election and vowed to make Germany and Europe stronger and less dependent on the United States.
Friedrich Merz is a corporate lawyer with a long experience serving on the boards of major German companies. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1989 and to the Bundestag in 1994. He was also one of the CDU members that was critical of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Counting of votes has resulted in total 164 seats for the CDU, 152 seats for the AFD and 120 seats for the SPD. The Greens have won 85 seats and the far-left has won a surprising 64 seats after a wide campaign on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. AFD got most of its new votes from the east of Germany and previous voters of the SPD.
Newsroom
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