Friedrich Merz has vowed to prioritize European unity and the continent's security as it grapples with the new Trump administration and Russia's war on Ukraine​.

Friedrich Merz faces complex coalition negotiations after the far-right AfD surged to a historic second place in a fractured vote after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unloved three-way alliance.

Provisional results confirm that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest.

Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz told Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu that he would invite him to Germany in defiance of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Israeli prime minister's office said on Monday.

Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz intends to meet with US President Donald Trump at the earliest opportunity, according to his deputy Johann Wadephul. "Merz will meet Trump as soon as possible and hopefully by then he'll have higher defence spending in his toolkit,

Such talks often drag on for weeks if not months in Germany, but Merz is in a hurry to reach a deal with Europe's biggest economy facing economic malaise and an upheaval in relations with the U.S.