German conservatives lead election with far-right AfD in second place, exit polls show

The far-right Alternative for Germany made huge gains in the German general election, with the center-right Christian Democratic Union likely to lead coalition talks to form the next government.

BERLIN — Alternative for Germany, a far-right political party under surveillance by intelligence services for suspected extremism, made huge gains in the German general election Sunday, with the center-right Christian Democratic Union likely to lead coalition talks to form the next government.

The AfD, whose supporters include Elon Musk and others in the White House, is in second place with 19.8% of the vote, according to an exit poll published at 6:21 p.m. local time (12:21 p.m. ET). The CDU led the poll with 28.7%, meaning its leader Friedrich Merz will lead negotiations with other parties to form the next government.

The AfD is unlikely to be part of the government, as Germany’s coalition system requires cooperation among parties, and the others have refused to collaborate with the far-right group. But the party’s rise into the political mainstream has appalled large swaths of a country deeply aware of its Nazi past.

It’s part of a wider surge of the far right in Europe, whose proponents are already forging connections with Trump’s White House. The AfD’s ascent has come amid a spate of attacks across Germany, some of them by people with a migrant background. Also on the agenda has been Germany’s stagnant economy and the war in Ukraine.

AfD leader Alice Weidel called the result a “glorious” success in a television speech following the exit poll. This marks the best outcome for her 12-year-old party, doubling its vote share from the last election in 2021.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/germany-far-right-afd-election-results-rcna193235

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