Europe must seek to “achieve independence” from the United States, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said after his opposition conservatives won elections on Sunday, in a vote that also saw surging support for the far-right.

Friedrich Merz said that Europe needed to “achieve independence from the U.S., step by step.” That won’t be easy, for Europe or for the United States.

Germany faces its second change of leader in less than four years after the head of the center-right opposition won Sunday’s election