Outrage over ‘US Involvement’ in German Elections: The new leader criticizes Washington’s statements as severe as those from Russia, while AfD comes in second with backing from Elon Musk

Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz criticized US interference in the German elections, likening it to the interference from Moscow. This comes as the far-right party AfD surges into second place in the polls.

Merz, who is poised to become the next German Chancellor with his conservative CDU securing 28.5 per cent of the vote, denounced the US’s involvement in the election process. This criticism arose following expressions of support for the AfD from tech mogul Elon Musk and the Trump administration.

In addition to his criticism, Merz advocated for distancing Germany from the influence of the US. He voiced his intention of bolstering Europe swiftly in order to attain genuine independence from the US gradually.

Meanwhile, the AfD have taken 20.8 per cent of ballots cast which is the strongest showing for a far-right party in Germany’s post war era.

The AfD celebrated the result, with their leader Alice Weidel claiming that the anti-migrant party was now ‘firmly anchored’ in mainstream German politics. 

US President Donald Trump has called the election result ‘a great day for Germany’ in a Truth Social post. He didn’t name a party in his post. 

‘Looks like the conservative party in Germany has won the very big and highly anticipated election,’ he wrote.

The Union bloc is the conservative party, and won the election. However, Trump ally Elon Musk endorsed AfD before the election, and US Vice President JD Vance met with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on the sidelines of a recent conference in Germany.

‘Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration, that has prevailed for so many years,’ Trump wrote in a post that was entirely in capital letters.

The governing centre-left SPD has slumped to third place in a disastrous result for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party.

The party described the result as a ‘historic defeat’ which if the exit poll is to be believed could see the SPD’s vote share drop to its lowest since the 19th century.  

Following a campaign rocked by a series of violent attacks, and frequent interventions from President Trump’s administration, the CDU looks set to return to government after four years in opposition. 

Their leader, Friedrich Merz, is now on track to be the next chancellor and has vowed to move quickly to try to form a coalition, adding he aims to have a government in place by Easter..

But time is pressing for Europe’s ailing largest economy, with society split over migration and its security caught between a confrontational US and an assertive Russia and China.

The most likely outcome of the election is a coalition of the conservative bloc and the SPD, who came in third, after the AfD surged to a historic second place.

‘From our point of view, (talks) can start very, very quickly,’ said senior conservative CDU politician Jens Spahn.

‘The first talks should certainly be held this week, in the next few days. We see the situation in the world, Ukraine, Russia, the United States,’ he said. ‘German leadership is needed.’

Merz, 69, has promised to provide greater leadership than Chancellor Olaf Scholz and to liaise more with key allies, restoring Germany to the heart of Europe.

A brash economic liberal who has shifted the CDU to the right, he is considered the antithesis of former conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel, who led Germany for 16 years.

Germany’s politicians will now look to the tricky task of forming a coalition government which can often take weeks if not months. 

Those negotiations are certain to be even harder after a campaign which exposed sharp divisions over migration and the prospect of a much larger collection of AfD MPs in the bundestag.

The result suggests a remarkable surge for the AfD which has jumped from fifth place in 2021 to second place rising its share of the vote by ten points.

However, the party is unlikely to be in government due to the firewall in German politics where moderate parties refuse to work with any hard right parties since the Second World War.

Despite this, Wiedel has already said tonight that she is open to discussing a role in government with the CDU.

‘We extend our hand to offer cooperation with the CDU. Otherwise change won’t be possible in Germany,’ she said.

Some analysts believe the party’s strong showing tonight could pave the way for an AfD win in 2029. 

AfD deputy parliamentary leader Beatrix von Storch told The Mail: ‘So many people have voted here for us and expressed their political will, so it is outrageous that they are not able to have their view represented here, but it is of course quite clear that it is only a question time before other parties will change their position of keeping us out.’

‘I can’t see the next coalition government lasting longer than two years, and after this we will then do very well because are just fed up of not being listened to and we are the only party who are responding to the fears and the anger of the German people right now concerned mass illegal migration.’

Federal spokesperson Stephan Brandner added: ‘Back then we were called everything: nationalist, racist, you name it.

‘But the truth is we are responding to the public. If you want a serious response to the massive problems in our county then it’s only us really offering it, and that’s why we will win outright at some point.’

Among Germany’s smaller parties it looks set to be a bruising night for the Scholz’s former and current coalition partners with the Greens taking 13.5 per cent of the vote.

The liberal centrist FDP look set to just miss the 5 per cent threshold needed to enter parliament – taking 4.9 per cent of the vote. 

It was the FDP who brought down the government in November when they dramatically pulled out of the coalition during a dispute over the budget.

The party’s leader Christian Lindner – who previously served as Scholz’s finance minister –  has already hinted he could resign if his party failed to get into the parliament.  

Elsewhere, the far-left Die Linke – which was formed by former communists from East Germany – appears to have seen a late surge to 8.5 per cent seeing off a challenge to the party from the newly formed economically left-wing, socially conservative Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance. 

Coalition talks could leave Scholz in a caretaker role for months, delaying urgently needed policies to revive Europe’s largest economy after two consecutive years of contraction and as companies struggle against global rivals.

It would also create a leadership vacuum in the heart of Europe even as it deals with a host of challenges including U.S. President Donald Trump threatening a trade war and attempting to fast-track a ceasefire deal for Ukraine without European involvement.

Germany, which has an export-oriented economy and long relied on the United States for its security, is particularly vulnerable.

Since the last election in 2021 the once mighty German economy, which steered the EU through the Euro crisis, has stagnated since the start of the Ukraine war with Scholz’s government struggling to revitalise Europe’s largest economy. 

Germans are now more pessimistic about their living standards now than at any time since the financial crisis in 2008.

On top of this, the country is dealing with creaking infrastructure due to lack of investment in public services such as trains – which are now the most delayed in the whole of Europe.

Germany has also struggled to modernise in recent years with many offices still reliant on fax machine. 

Attitudes towards migration have also hardened, a profound shift in German public sentiment since its ‘Refugees Welcome’ culture during Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, that the AfD has both driven and harnessed. 

Tonight’s exit poll has also revealed dramatic shifts in how different age groups vote with young people appearing to rush to the extreme ends of the political spectrum. 

Die Linke won among 18 to 24-year-olds with the AfD in second. Meanwhile, the AfD came top among 25 to 35-year -olds and the CDU is first among older voters.   

Sunday’s election came after the collapse last November of Scholz’s coalition of his Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and pro-market Free Democrats (FDP) in a row over budget spending.

The election campaign has been dominated by fierce exchanges over the perception that irregular immigration is out of control, fueled by a series of attacks in which the suspected perpetrators were of migrant origin.

It has also been overshadowed by the unusually forceful show of solidarity by members of the Trump administration – including Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk – for the anti-migrant AfD, and broadsides against European leaders.

The 12-year old AfD party took second place for the first time in a national election, according to the exit polls.

To be sure, the AfD is unlikely to govern for now as all mainstream parties have ruled out working with it, though some analysts believe its strength could pave the way for an AfD win in 2029.

Support for the AfD, along with a small but significant vote share for the far left and the decline of Germany’s big-tent parties, is increasingly complicating the formation of coalitions and governance.

EU allies are cautiously hopeful the elections might deliver a more coherent government able to help drive forward policy at home and in the bloc.

Some also hope Merz will reform the ‘debt brake’, a constitutional mechanism to limit government borrowing that critics say has strangled new investment.

The most expected outcome of this election is a coalition of Merz’s CDU with the SPD in an uneasy ‘grand coalition.’

Other coalition options include the ‘Kenya coalition’ – named for the colours on the Kenyan flag, which could see the Greens join the government.

Or if the FDP enter parliament they might form a government with the CDU  and Greens in a so-called ‘Jamaica coalition’.