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.

The Christian Democrats won with 28.6% of the vote while the far-right Alternative for Germany came second with 20.8%.

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

The projections, based on exit polls and partial counting, put support for Merz’s Union bloc at just under 29% and Alternative for Germany, or AfD, about 20% — roughly double

German voters will cast their ballots on Sunday in pivotal parliamentary elections, with Europe's biggest economy and the European Union's most populous country expecting a major shift to the right. The opposition conservative bloc has consistently polled highest in the months leading up to the vote.

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.