Friedrich Merz is set to become the next Chancellor at a time of great tumult at home and abroad, writes John Kampfner.

Europe must seek to “achieve independence” from the United States, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said after exit polls showed his opposition conservatives were on track to win Sunday’s election,

Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats took the highest portion of a record number of votes. An ascendant far right, crumbling international order and sluggish German economy face the incoming chancellor.