BERLIN ¨C Friedrich Merz, set to become Germany¡¯s next chancellor after his opposition conservatives won the national election on Sunday, vowed to help give Europe ¡°real independence¡± from the U.S. as he prepared to cobble together a government.
Merz, 69, faces complex and lengthy coalition negotiations after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic second place in a fractured vote after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz¡¯s unloved three-way alliance.
Mainstream parties ruled out working with the AfD which enjoyed the endorsement of prominent U.S. figures including Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and ally of President Donald Trump.
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