German Chancellor Olaf Scholz waves to applause after giving a speech at a special party convention in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/, File)

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

Germany's mainstream conservatives have won the country's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the country's second-largest party.

Projections show German opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservatives have won a lackluster victory in Sunday's national election.

Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats took the highest portion of a record number of votes. An ascendant far right, crumbling international order and sluggish German economy face the incoming chancellor.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has not ordered a state of emergency in Germany over the US’s bilateral peace negotiations with Russia, despite the claim spreading widely across social platforms. Users on X,

Friedrich Merz's CDU party emerged as the largest party in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, earning 28.6% of the vote.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A reform of Germany's constitutionally enshrined debt brake, which limits public borrowing, would be discussed by the leaders of the conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) in coalition talks, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.

Both the far-right Alternative fuer Deutschland and the far-left Die Linke saw significant gains and were the most popular parties among young people.