Elections in Germany: Merz announces victory, Scholz congratulates him. Official results

On February 23, Germany held early elections to the Bundestag. According to the official vote count, the conservative Christian Democratic Union won, and its leader, Friedrich Merz, is likely to become the next German Chancellor. He has already announced his victory.

The current head of government, Olaf Scholz, conceded defeat, as his center-left Social Democratic Party of Germany took third place. And the far-right Alternative for Germany party came in second, showing the best result in its history. The official results were published on the website of the Federal Election Commission of Germany.

At 18:00 local time (19:00 Kyiv time), polling stations closed in the country and the vote count began. The official vote count is as follows:

– Christian Democratic Union CDU/CSU led by Friedrich Merz – 28.6%;

– Alternative for Germany (AfD) led by Alice Weidel – 20.8%;

– The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) of the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz – 16.4%;

– The Green Party led by former Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck – 11.6%;

– The Left – 8.8%;

– The Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) – 4.9%;

– Sahra Wagenknecht's Union (FDP) – 4.4%.

A total of 29 political parties participated in the early elections in Germany, including 10 in all 16 federal states.

According to exit polls, the voter turnout was 84%, the highest since 1990.

Another record for this election was set by the Social Democratic Party. The political force led by Chancellor Scholz reached a historic low in support, showing the worst result for the SPD in 135 years.

The head of the government on Sunday evening at the Willy Brandt House in Berlin called it "a bitter election result for the Social Democratic Party." According to Scholz, this must be "stated clearly and unequivocally," Bild reports.

The chancellor congratulated Merz on his victory. Meanwhile, SPD co-chairman Saskia Esken thanked Scholz for his efforts in the election campaign. "You fought like a lion," she told the SPD leader on the stage of the SPD's federal headquarters.

"We, the CDU and CSU, have won this federal election. Thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me. And in this context, I would like to express my respect to our political competitors.

Now we will quickly fulfill the instructions of our government because the world will not wait. It also does not wait for lengthy coalition negotiations and discussions. We must now regain the ability to act as soon as possible," Merz said in response to the preliminary results.

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