This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/24/germany-election-far-right-surge-friedrich-merz-warning

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Germany election: far right surge is ‘last warning’, says Friedrich Merz Germany election: Merz says it’s ‘five to midnight’ for Europe
(about 4 hours later)
Leader of victorious conservative alliance says centrist parties must work together to provide effective leadership Leader of victorious conservative alliance says continent must build defence capability as US moves towards ‘America alone’ motto
The doubling of support for the far right in Germany’s federal election was “the last warning” to the country’s mainstream parties to provide effective leadership, Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s victorious conservative alliance, has said. The man expected to be Germany’s next chancellor has said Europe must act swiftly to increase its defence capability in the face of a US administration whose motto is moving towards “America alone”, adding: “This is really five minutes to midnight for Europe.”
Speaking on Monday after his CDU/CSU alliance came first with 28.5% of the vote, the man who is on course to become the next German chancellor said centrist parties needed to heed the surge in support for the anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). In a wide-ranging press conference after his conservative alliance’s victory in Sunday’s federal election, Friedrich Merz made it clear his focus was on the turbulent geopolitical landscape, saying that although he would seek good ties with the US he was also ready for “the worst-case scenario”.
“This is really the last warning to the political parties of the democratic centre in Germany to come to joint solutions,” Merz told a press conference. Asked about the doubling of support for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, which came second with 20% of votes, he urged Germany’s political mainstream to recognise it as “the last warning”.
The AfD won more than 20% of the vote, about twice the share it garnered at the last election only three years ago. But it will not be part of negotiations to form a coalition government because of the German “firewall” that has historically existed between mainstream parties and the far right. Effective leadership was urgently needed to combat the AfD’s further rise and solve the problems that had helped fuel its popularity, he told journalists. “This is really the last warning to the political parties of the democratic centre in Germany to come to common solutions.”
On Monday, the AfD co-leader Alice Weidel called her party’s performance “historic” and decried Merz’s refusal to enter into coalition with the AfD as a “democracy blockade”, arguing that millions of voters were in effect disfranchised by the decision. But, as the 69-year-old former banker prepared to begin the thorny task of forming a government with Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), his first comments on Monday – the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion – were directed at Kyiv.
Merz is instead preparing to begin the thorny task of forming a new government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the party of the outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in what Germans know as a grand coalition or GroKo.
Together the parties gained enough seats for a majority in parliament, with smaller parties – the pro-business FDP and the leftwing conservative Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – failing to reach the 5% threshold needed to get into parliament.
How the centrists will be able to overcome their differences on migration policy remains unclear but it is likely to be a central plank of whatever government does emerge.
On Monday, Merz pointed to the strong gains of the AfD in the ex-communist east, where it secured 45 out of 48 available seats after campaigning vigorously on its anti-Islam, anti-immigration platform and backing the “remigration” of both immigrants and German citizens deemed to have poorly integrated.
Merz, 69, said his own conservative party colleagues had warned him that the former east was “only a few years ahead of you in the west” and that “if you do not solve the problems, then you will have the same problem”.
“We must work together to see that we solve the problems in Germany,” he told journalists, in order to “gradually deprive this party of its breeding ground”.
Basking in their success, the AfD party leaders, Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, predicted they would soon overtake the CDU in the polls.
Merz, meanwhile, made clear his focus was on the turbulent geopolitical scene as much as on domestic politics. His first comments on Monday were directed at Ukraine, on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
He posted on X: “Europe stands unwaveringly by Ukraine’s side. Now more than ever, it holds true: We must put Ukraine in a position of strength.”He posted on X: “Europe stands unwaveringly by Ukraine’s side. Now more than ever, it holds true: We must put Ukraine in a position of strength.”
“For a just peace, the attacked country must be part of peace negotiations,” Merz added, in what was interpreted as a sideswipe at the Trump administration after it began talks with Russia last week on ending the war that excluded Ukraine and Europe. In an apparent sideswipe at Donald Trump’s administration after it began talks with Russia last week about ending the war that excluded Ukraine and Europe, he added: “For a just peace, the attacked country must be part of peace negotiations.”
Merz later said he would seek good ties with the United States under Trump but was also ready for “the worst-case scenario”. He was “hopeful that we can maintain the transatlantic relationship” but warned that “all the signals we are receiving from the United States indicate that interest in Europe is decreasing”. Merz, a known transatlanticist – a proponent of a close relationship between the US and Europe – later said that “all the signals we are receiving from the United States indicate that interest in Europe is decreasing”.
“If those who really do not just make ‘America first,’ but almost ‘America alone’ their motto prevail, then it will be difficult,” he told reporters. “But I remain hopeful that we will succeed in maintaining the transatlantic relationship.”
For many years, Berlin had resisted calls from Paris to build up Europe’s defence capabilities, feeling secure under the protection of the nuclear-armed US.
However, Merz has made clear he felt Europe’s largest economy was facing a new era. “In particular following the announcements from Washington in the past few weeks, it’s clear that we Europeans now need to very hurriedly become capable to act,” he said.
He also made reference to interference from the Trump administration in Germany’s election campaign, calling it unacceptable. Elon Musk, the president’s close ally, congratulated the AfD’s candidate for chancellor after the anti-Islam party’s strong performance in the election. On Monday Musk posted on X: “It is only a matter of time before AfD wins.”
The AfD won about twice the vote share it garnered at the last election three years ago. But it will not be part of negotiations to form a coalition government because of the “firewall” that has historically existed between mainstream parties and the far right.
A jubilant Alice Weidel, the AfD’s co-leader and candidate for chancellor, called her party’s performance “historic” and decried Merz’s refusal to enter into coalition with the AfD as a “democracy blockade”, arguing that millions of voters were in effect disfranchised by the decision.
The AfD did particularly well in the former communist east, where it secured 43 out of 48 available seats after campaigning vigorously on an anti-Islam, anti-immigration platform, and backing the “remigration” of immigrants and German citizens deemed to have poorly integrated.
On Monday Merz, whose CDU/CSU alliance won 28.5% of the vote, said: “We need to see that we solve the problems in Germany together so that we step for step, deprive this party of its breeding ground.” If that failed, he said, referring to the next election, “we’ll have very different problems”.
Sign up to This is EuropeSign up to This is Europe
The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environmentThe most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment
after newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion
Europeans, he added, must now act together swiftly to organise their own defence capability. “This really is five minutes to midnight for Europe,” he said. Merz said his own conservative party colleagues had warned him that the former east was “only a few years ahead of you in the west” and that “if you do not solve the problems, then you will have the same problem”.
Many Germans fear a re-run of the last GroKo, led by Angela Merkel between 2018 and 2021, which critics accuse of having lacked ambition, and having failed to tackle pressing challenges such as economic and bureaucratic reform, defence spending increases and an infrastructure overhaul. With a particular focus on migration, which was the main topic of the election campaign, Merz doubled down on his view that “we need to retrieve control once again over those who enter our country”. The CDU leader provoked controversy in January by relying on AfD support to get a non-binding migration policy through parliament.
“The biggest challenge of all is going to be forming a stable coalition that also has the strength to cut the AfD down to size,” said the political scientist Aiko Wagner of Berlin’s Free University. His hardline migration policies are diametrically opposed to those of the SPD, and the parties – who together would have a small majority in the Bundestag – are likely to engage in stormy negotiations as they try to thrash out a grand coalition.
The SPD, Germany’s oldest political party, is smarting after receiving the worst ever result in its history, with 16%. Scholz, who will remain in post as chancellor until Merz has formed a government, called the result “bitter”. Many Germans fear a re-run of the last GroKo, as they are known, led by Angela Merkel between 2018 and 2021, which critics accused of a lack of ambition and failing to tackle pressing challenges such as economic and bureaucratic reform, defence spending increases and an infrastructure overhaul.
Initial analysis of the SPD’s drop in support indicated that dissatisfaction over its migration politics was the chief motivating factor. The centre-left party lost 1.7 million voters to the conservatives, and 720,000 to the AfD. Sunday’s election was bruising for all the parties in the incumbent government. The SPD, Germany’s oldest political party, received its worst ever result, with 16% of the vote share. Scholz, who will remain as chancellor until Merz has formed a government, called the result “bitter”.
Merz is said to be pinning his hopes on managing to convince the SPD that its voters want to see similar radical migration reforms to those already proposed by the CDU/CSU, in particular closing the borders to so-called irregular migration. The Greens garnered 11.6% of the vote, down three points from 2021. The market liberal FDP failed to reach the 5% threshold needed to get into parliament, as did the leftwing conservative Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). The leftwing Linke party garnered 8.8%.
He controversially won backing for this proposal in parliament from the AfD in January, while the SPD slammed the CDU’s proposals as illegal and a threat to the existence of the EU. Merz said he hoped to form a coalition by Easter in late April, stressing the urgency of the negotiations and saying: “The world is not waiting for us.”
Merz’s aim is for a new government to be formed by Easter (20/21 April). Despite his insistence that speed is of the essence, coalition talks are not expected to officially begin until 6 March, taking into account carnival season in the Rheinland and a state election due to be held in Hamburg on 2 March. In his press conference, Merz also said he would ensure that the Israeli prime minister would be able to visit Germany without being apprehended, after a warrant was issued for his arrest by the international criminal court for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.
Until then unofficial negotiations will be taking place behind closed doors. Merz called it “an absurd idea” that Benjamin Netanyahu should not visit Germany and said he had told Netanyahu as much by phone.
Financial markets reacted positively to the news of the conservatives’ win, with stocks in major German companies rising amid hopes of a stable government after weeks of stagnation.