Description: Elections in Germany have effectively divided the country in its pre–Cold War borders as the far – right AfD expectedly surged in popularity and won up to 20.8% of the votes in East Germany. Merz’ CDU/CSU won 28.6% of the votes and the most likely candidate for a coalition was the defeated SPD of Olaf Scholz. The former Chancellor has stated that after the election defeat, he would withdraw from the party’s higher echelons which could additionally benefit Merz in cohering with Scholz’ SPD. Germany is currently facing severe economic pressure as the economy is stagnating for more than 2 years, growing migration problems and foreign policy disorientation as it looks to reassert itself as the pivotal country in Europe’s unified front. Merz, a multimillionaire lawyer related to companies such as Mayer Brown and BlackRock, stated that preemptive coalition talks with SPD were already on their way as he expected to form a government by Easter at the latest.
Impact: Germany’s future conservative government would need to quickly readjust and pivot towards a leadership position within the European Union as international relations are currently in a precarious position. The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD would enable Merz to have a slim majority in the German Bundestag which could face staunch opposition from far – right AfD especially on issues such as migration and the Ukraine – Russia war. AfD’s projected 152 seats in the Bundestag could severely disrupt any unified political efforts presented by the governing coalition and incite internal political crisis in Germany which would affect the already disintegrated state of Europe’s foreign policy and international relations especially with the US. The governing coalition would need to adopt a politically miscellaneous approach in order to conform with the opposition’s request and move forward in positioning Germany at a crucial standpoint on the geopolitical landscape.