Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has secured its strongest-ever result in a national election, surging to second place with over 20%, trailing only behind Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance, which won with more than 28%.
The party nearly doubled its support, making it the most successful far-right party since World War II, according to projections from ARD and ZDF public television.
AfD celebrates ‘historic’ gains
AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla called the result a landmark victory, telling supporters: “We have achieved something historic today.” At the party’s election night gathering in Berlin, attendees waved German flags as Alice Weidel, the party leader and candidate for chancellor, insisted AfD was now “firmly anchored” in Germany’s political system.
Weidel also issued a challenge to the mainstream parties, arguing that if the CDU/CSU refused to cooperate with the AfD to “implement the will of the people,” her party would surpass them in the next election. The party has been buoyed by backing from influential figures abroad, including US vice president JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk, both of whom have become key figures in US President Donald Trump’s administration.
‘Bitter’ blow for Olaf Scholz
While AfD celebrated, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) suffered a crushing defeat, finishing in third place with just over 16% of the vote—its worst postwar result. Conceding defeat, Scholz admitted to his supporters: “This is a bitter election result. This is an election defeat.”
Scholz congratulated the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, led by Friedrich Merz, which won with around 28.5% of the vote. However, he reaffirmed his stance against working with AfD, stating, “That must never be something that we will accept. I will not accept it and never will.”
Merz’s coalition challenge
Merz now faces a tough challenge in forming a coalition, despite his party winning the most votes. He promised to “re-establish a viable government in Germany as quickly as possible,” but the divided political landscape makes that difficult. The Greens, with around 12%, and the hard-left Left Party, which made a surprise comeback with up to 9%, could play key roles in talks.
Despite its big win, the AfD remains shut out. Merz has ruled out working with them, saying, “We have fundamentally different views, for example, on foreign policy, on security policy, in many other areas, regarding Europe, the euro, NATO.”
