Exit polls suggest that Friedrich Merz, the candidate for the conservative Christian Democrats who has vowed to bring stronger leadership in Europe, will be Germany’s next leader. The hard-right AfD party was in second place.

After Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won a plurality of seats in federal elections Sunday, party leader Friedrich Merz

The victory in the general elections in Germany was expected to be won by the CDU/CSU bloc. He will be asked to form a new government of the country. The new chancellor of Germany will be the leader of the Christian Democrats Friedrich Merz — a man hated by Angela Merkel.

“Friedrich Merz is perhaps the most international chancellor ... killed two people in a knife attack in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last month. He brought a nonbinding motion before ...

The 69-year-old CDU candidate is set to become chancellor at a time when Germany is going through a deep economic, security and identity crisis.

Friedrich Merz's task will be complicated by the need to form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Friedrich Merz is perhaps the most international chancellor ... killed two people in a knife attack in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last month. He brought a nonbinding motion before ...