Center-Right CDU Wins German Elections, Staves Off AfD Surge

The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and leader Friedrich Merz won Germany’s parliamentary elections on Sunday with 28% of the vote.

Historical Results: The “far-right” Alternative for Germany (AfD) dominated in former East German states, doubling its results from 2021 with around 21% of the vote nationwide. AfD’s results were the best for a “far-right” party since World War II. Incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) finished third with 16% – their worst result since 1887. Several parties failed to meet the 5% parliament threshold, including the new “far-left” Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) which won 4.97%. 

Coalition Brewing: CDU has said it wants to avoid a three-way coalition. Germany’s main parties have discussed maintaining a “firewall” aimed at stemming “far-right” influence.

For Context: The election was scheduled as a snap in December after Chancellor Scholz’s coalition fell apart in November. AfD and BSW share similar populist anti-immigration platforms and in September achieved historic results in eastern German provinces’ state elections. Members of President Trump’s administration have appeared sympathetic to AfD’s platform over the past month. 

America Relations: Merz, who previously served as a board member at BlackRock, said, “It is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe,” and that his “absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe” and “achieve independence from the USA.” President Trump celebrated Merz’s win, writing on Truth Social that it is “A GREAT DAY FOR GERMANY, AND FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”

How The Media Covered It: CNN (Lean Left bias) wrote Merz “has an enormous task ahead” in trying to contain AfD, which it said has “capitalized on” terror attacks carried out by migrants “for its own political gain.” Daily Mail (Right) called the result “disastrous” for Scholz and described Merz as “a brash economic liberal who has shifted the CDU to the right.”