The leading candidate, Friedrich Merz, a conservative who has adopted many of the AfD’s hard-line positions on immigration, used his closing statement of the debate to promise his voters that he would never allow the AfD into his government. Under him, he said, the firewall would hold.

Elon Musk has continued his public association with Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, sending a congratulatory post on X to the party's co-chair Alice Weidel following the election results last night in Germany.

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

The AfD doubles its vote share to 20.8 percent in weekend elections and becomes Germany’s second-largest party.

Who is Germany’s election winner and how will he fare against AfD leader Alice Weidel? - Friedrich Merz has taken aim at the US and says Europe must stand up for itself

Merz’s priority will be to form a government with the third-placed Social Democrats (SPD), led by Germany’s current Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, which secured its lowest ever proportion of the vote since the Second World War (16.4 per cent).

Gemany's far-right AFD leader Alice Weidel enjoyed the vocal support of several international far-right figures ahead of this Sunday's legislative elections in which her party scored its

As Germany heads to the polls, a look at the politician cultivating the anti-immigrant party’s ‘image of competence’.

Concern is growing over the far-right Alternative for Germany party’s rise ahead of the German election. Its U.S. supporters include Elon Musk and JD Vance.

Single parties rarely win majorities in German elections, so Friedrich Merz's CDU will need the support of one or more parties to secure a majority in government. His most likely

Alice Weidel, has vowed to "chase" the country's other parties if her party goes into opposition. The CDU/CSU centre-right bloc is leading according to initial projects, and its leader Friedrich Merz has repeatedly ruled out a coalition with the AfD.