After Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won a plurality of seats in federal elections Sunday, party leader Friedrich Merz

The conservative CDU/CSU party has won the parliamentary elections in Germany. The leader of the formation, Friedrich Merz, is the main candidate for chancellor. During the campaign, the future head of the German government expressed support for closing the borders.

He 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.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz spent the past two months excoriating the country’s Social Democrats — blaming them for a stagnating economy, uncontrolled illegal migration and the rise of the far-right.

After an election dominated by immigration and economic issues, Germany’s likely new chancellor is Friedrich Merz, the leader of the conservative Christian Democrats. His party finished first with just under 29 percent of the vote and will need to form a coalition government.