German election victor Merz plans pivot from U.S. as coalition talks loom

I hope that [the U.S.] remains a democracy and does not slide into an authoritarian populist system,

Merz told a campaign event in Darmstadt

Tonight we will celebrate and from tomorrow we start working,

he said in a first reaction in Berlin, claiming victory while surrounded by supporters

LOOKS LIKE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN GERMANY HAS WON THE VERY BIG AND HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ELECTION,

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social

A three-party coalition runs the risk of more muddling through and more stagnation unless all parties involved realise that this is the last chance to bring change and to prevent the AfD from getting stronger,

Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING

MUCH LIKE THE USA, THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY GOT TIRED OF THE NO COMMON SENSE AGENDA, ESPECIALLY ON ENERGY AND IMMIGRATION, THAT HAS PREVAILED FOR SO MANY YEARS,

Trump wrote

A lot of my friends are likely going to vote for the conservatives because this government didn't work so well and Merz's international standing is quite good,

said Mike Zeller, 26, a civil servant

I'm completely disappointed in politics, so maybe an alternative would be better,

said retired Berlin bookkeeper Ludmila Ballhorn, 76, who plans to vote AfD, ... adding she was struggling

There is no left majority and no left politics anymore in Germany,

Merz told a raucous beer hall, sketching out a plan to curtail benefits, cut red tape and tighten immigration

I'm very confident and, no matter how it turns out, we still have room for improvement,

AfD supporter Julian Adrat, 34, said at a rally of the anti-immigration party Berlin

Friedrich Merzopposition leader

Tomorrow we will win the elections and then the nightmare of this government will be over,

conservative leader Friedrich Merz told a jubilant crowd in Munich

Friedrich Merzopposition leader

Europe must become stronger again and Germany must become more involved in the European Union,

Merz said

Forming a coalition is likely to be very difficult indeed,

said Jacob Ross, a researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations

I hope we don't slide too far to the right and that we can form a strong counterweight to America,

he said