The Christian Democratic Union’s likely victory comes despite a strong showing by the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

Friedrich Merz is on course to become the post-World War II Germany's 10th chancellor, the culmination of a yearslong political career that was once sidelined by his party’s iconic leader. The 69-year-old head of the center-right Union bloc,

Provisional results confirm that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest