Winner Friedrich Merz's conservatives need at least one coalition partner to govern and face potentially months of difficult negotiations before a stable government is likely to emerge.

The Left (Die Linke) and the far-right AfD party scored big in Germany's federal election on Sunday. But their success has less to do with the fact that they offer more or less radical alternatives to other parties than in their style of political discourse — and more moderate parties would be wise to learn a thing or two from this.

Friedrich Merz is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, but his victory may not deliver the stability many voters had hoped for. The 2025 election marks a major turning point for Germany, with a sharp rightward shift and the collapse of the center-left.