What is Germany's 'debt brake?' In Germany, the federal government and the 16 states (Länder) are obliged to balance their budgets and are practically prohibited from taking out extra loans. No other G7 country has such strict limits on new borrowing.

The conservative CDU/CSU party has won the parliamentary elections in Germany. The leader of the formation, Friedrich Merz, is the main candidate for chancellor. During the campaign, the future head of the German government expressed support for closing the borders.

Germany's centre-right CDU/CSU bloc has won national elections by a large margin, with all constituencies counted, paving the way for leader Friedrich Merz to be the next chancellor, as could be seen on the website of the federal returning officer.

Germany’s centre-right CDU and CSU parties have won the federal elections with about 28.5 to 29 per cent of the vote according to exit polls, paving the way for CDU leader Friedrich Merz to become chancellor at a time of economic and political upheaval in Europe’s largest democracy.

CDU's Friedrich Merz has claimed victory while SPD's Olaf Scholz has regretted the "bitter" election result. The German electoral authority confirmed the CDU's win in preliminary results, followed by the far-right AfD.

CDU/CSU secured 28.6 percent of the vote, followed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 20.8 percent and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 16.4 percent, according to the preliminary results released by the Federal Returning Officer in the early hours of Monday.

Friedrich Merz claims victory for CDU/CSU alliance as incumbent chancellor Scholz concedes defeat; Alternative für Deutschland almost doubles vote share to 20%

The conservative CDU/CSU party is set to be the largest party in the next German parliament with 28.5% of the vote, according to projections The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to become the second biggest force in the country,