Friedrich Merz to form govt as Germany tilts right

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) claimed victory. while Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, had the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II. Merz's conservatives won 208 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag, while the AfD won 152. The three parties in the former governing coalition lost seats, with the centre-left Social Democrats falling to 120 seats and the Greens to 85.