The federal election has been counted – the Union wins with 28.6 percent. But Chancellor Merz will need a partner to govern. The AfD comes in second place – in the east it even becomes the strongest force.
Merz has ruled out any government coalition with the AfD. But how long can the Union’s firewall against the AfD really last, when the next Chancellor is resolved to pursue a harder line on immigration, with or without votes from the AfD? With a historic 20.8 percent, the AfD has become, at least for now, an electoral alternative to the CDU. Unstable times lie ahead for Germany. Expect inevitable, unavowed future cooperation between the CDU and the AfD as the Chancellor Merz pursues flagship anti-immigration policies seeded by the far-right party, while the other parties rebel. A snap election well-before the 4-year mandate is by no means an outlandish prediction. As well as a new leadership for the CDU.
More on this here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Translate the news link directly in your internet browser, or save and upload the web page as a pdf document on Google Translate.