US does not care about Europe's fate, says Germany's expected leader after election win

The man set to be Germany’s next Chancellor has called for European “independence” from the United States after his conservative party declared victory in the country’s elections on Sunday.

Friedrich Merz said he and other European leaders had discussed Europe’s fracturing relationship with the US under Donald Trump.

The US President has shaken Europe and Nato nations to their core by appearing to actively undermine the transatlantic alliance and support for Ukraine, and side with Russia.

European leaders had discussed how to “strengthen Europe as quickly as possible, so that we achieve independence from the US, step by step”, said Merz.

“I never thought that I would ever need to say something like that, on television, but after the latest statements made by Donald Trump last week, it is clear, that the Americans – at any case these Americans, this administration – mostly don’t care about the fate of Europe one way or another,” he added.

He also took aim at close Trump aide Elon Musk, saying that the billionaire’s “interventions from Washington were no less drastic, dramatic, and ultimately no less brazen, than the interventions that we have seen from Moscow.”

Merz was speaking on Sunday night after his Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) won the national election with 28.6 per cent of the vote, translating to 208 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag.

However, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ended as the second biggest party, winning 20.8 per cent, or 151 seats, preliminary results showed – its best result in a federal election since its formation in 2013.

AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, said: “We have become the second-strongest force.” She added that her party was “open for coalition negotiations” with Merz’s, claiming that “otherwise no change of policy is possible in Germany.”

But Merz has repeatedly and categorically ruled out working with AfD, as have other mainstream parties.

Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats slumped to their worst ever result, with 16.4% and 121 seats, while left-wing party Die Linke saw a revival of its fortunes, reaching 64 seats. Scholz conceded defeat after what he called “a bitter election result”.

The Greens, partners with the Social Democrats in the outgoing government, received 11.6 per cent and 85 seats.

The liberal Free Democrats (FDP), who were also part of the coalition, crashed out of parliament after failing to pass the 5 per cent threshold. Its leader Christian Lindner – whose row with Scholz triggered the collapse of the government and led to elections – resigned.

Merz is now expected to become Germany’s next chancellor. He hailed a “terrific election campaign” but spoke of his “respect for our political opponents”.

He said: “Everybody in the world sees that Germany has a reliable and trustworthy government,” adding that “now we can also actually party here”.

He added: “Tonight we will be celebrating and as of tomorrow we will be resuming our work. Now we will talk together and it’s important to form a government as soon as possible… The world outside is not waiting for us.”

Whether Merz will need one or two partners to form a coalition will depend on how many parties get into parliament.

“One thing is clear: the Union has won the election,” said Carsten Linnemann, the general secretary of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union party.

Linnemann added: “The new chancellor will be called Friedrich Merz.”

The Social Democrats’ general secretary, Matthias Miersch, conceded that voters inflicted “a historic defeat” on his party and that Merz had a mandate to form the government.

He suggested that the defeat was no surprise after three years of the unpopular government, saying “this election wasn’t lost in the last eight weeks”.

German exit polls are supplemented with pre-election polling to represent people voting by absentee ballot.

The election was dominated by worries about the years-long stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy, and pressure to curb migration.

It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States.

Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of Nato. It has been Ukraine’s second-biggest weapons supplier, after the US.

It will be central to shaping the continent’s response to the challenges of the coming years, including the Trump administration’s confrontational foreign and trade policy.

Exit polls are not definitive and are just the early indication on results – but historically they have mostly been very accurate.