Future German Chancellor prioritizes Europe’s independence from the US

Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU-CSU party, which won the German elections, said that he is committed to European independence from the United States.

“For me, the absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe step by step so that we achieve independence from the United States,” Merz said.

The Trump administration is “largely indifferent” to the fate of Europe, the politician said.

Friedrich Merz also compared the U.S. government’s interference in the German election campaign to Russia’s disinformation meddling. As a reminder, Elon Musk promoted the far-right and pro-Russian AfD party.

At the same time, the current head of the German government, Olaf Scholz, conceded defeat in the election.

According to him, this is a “bitter election result for the Social Democratic Party” that must be “clearly and explicitly” recognized.

Olaf Scholz congratulated Merz and the CDU/CSU on their election victory.

At the same time, Scholz considers it unacceptable that 20% of Germany voted for the far-right AfD. “I will never accept this result,” he emphasized.

Scholz also said that he does not want to be part of a federal government led by the CDU/CSU and does not want to lead coalition negotiations.

The Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc, led by Friedrich Merz, has won the early parliamentary elections in Germany with 28.5% of the vote.

Alternative for Germany came in second with 20.8% of the vote. This far-right and pro-Russian party received a strong boost from Elon Musk, the owner of the X social network, an American billionaire, during the election campaign.

The third position with 16.4% of the vote went to the Social Democratic Party of Germany under Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This percentage is a historic low for the German Social Democrats.

The Greens and the Left received 11.6% and 8.8% of the vote, respectively. To form a coalition, the Christian Democrats will have to negotiate with these parties.