The Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, have few options in front of them to form a government after taking first place in the German elections as expected.

A conservative alliance made up of the CDU and CSU is set to lead Germany again, but the new coalition government will have to confront pressing challenges.

Friedrich Merz's CDU party emerged as the largest party in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, earning 28.6% of the vote.

BERLIN - Preliminary results show that Germany's conservative bloc, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), has emerged as the winner of the federal election, reclaiming its position as the largest force in parliament and signaling a major political shift.

Germany’s political system is set up to exclude extremists. Yet the country is waking up to a new political reality that has lurched to the right with the once outcast Alternative for Germany (AfD) party now firmly established in German politics.

Germany's mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won the country's national election, ensuring that Ukraine has an even stronger supporter in the European Union's largest country and creating hopes for renewal in an economic powerhouse that has been badly battered in recent years.

The Christian Democratic Union has won a plurality in the Bundestag, preliminary exit polls suggested Sunday, while the far-right AfD has come in second.

Germany’s right-wing populist Alternative für Deutschland party, or AfD, is on course for a stunning result in Sunday’s German election, with reports indicating one-in-five voters

Friedrich Merz and his party won, Elon Musk didn’t seem to move voters, and more lessons from an early German vote with big implications for Europe.

Germany has long been considered to have relatively ambitious climate goals and it’s likely that combatting climate change will remain a priority.