F RIEDRICH MERZ, who is likely to become Germany’s next chancellor, used his victory in Sunday’s elections to issue a remarkable warning to his compatriots. This was not the need to revive his country’s ailing economy,

The Christian Democratic Union has won a plurality in the Bundestag, preliminary exit polls suggested Sunday, while the far-right AfD has come in second.

Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz emerged as the winner in Sunday’s election, but the results gave his Christian Democrat-led bloc just one clear path to power and facing intense pressure to move quickly to form a government.

The next German government faces calls to loosen borrowing rules, slash energy costs and spur innovation. It won’t be easy.

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​.

The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the second largest party in parliament after Sunday's election, said Germany's likely next chancellor would be held hostage by left-wing parties that would seek to loosen tough fiscal rules.