German election victor Merz plans pivot from US as coalition talks loom

Friedrich Merz faces complex coalition negotiations after the far-right AfD surged to a historic second place in a fractured vote after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unloved three-way alliance.

Friedrich Merz, set to become Germany’s next chancellor after his opposition conservatives won the national election on Sunday, vowed to help give Europe “real independence” from the US as he prepared to cobble together a government.