Europe must seek to “achieve independence” from the United States, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said after his opposition conservatives won elections on Sunday, in a vote that also saw surging support for the far-right.

The far-right AfD and the Left jointly secured the one third of seats needed to block constitutional changes. Both oppose military aid to Ukraine.

The centre-right CDU's leader has committed himself to taking a more active role in the bloc in the midst of what he says is declining transatlantic interest in Europe. View on euronews