BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s opposition conservatives won the national election on Sunday, putting leader Friedrich Merz on track to be the next chancellor while the far-right Alternative for Germany came in second, its best ever result, projections showed.
Here are first reactions:
OLAF SCHOLZ, SPD CHANCELLOR
“The result is very bitter for the SPD. We have lost the election.”
“I will not be a representative of the SPD in a federal government led by the CDU, nor will I negotiate for it.”
FRIEDRICH MERZ, CDU LEADER AND CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE
“Tonight we will celebrate, and from tomorrow we start working. … The world out there is not waiting for us.”
ALICE WEIDEL, AfD PARTY LEADER
“We are open to coalition negotiations with the CDU.”
“We have arrived as a party of the people.”
CHRISTIAN LINDNER, FDP LEADER
“If the FDP leaves the Bundestag, it is quite clear that I will also leave politics … If my political career ends tomorrow, I will leave with only one feeling: gratitude.”
BORIS PISTORIUS, SPD MEMBER AND DEFENCE MINISTER
“The decisive factor is that we have to soberly state that this is a devastating, catastrophic result.”
ROBERT HABECK, GREENS CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE
“Germany is now facing a difficult task of forming a government. This must now be completed quickly and successfully.”
ALEXANDER DOBRINDT, CSU CHAIRMAN
“I am still convinced that there is no change of policy among the Greens and therefore I cannot imagine that a coalition (with the Greens) will be formed.”
(Reporting by Berlin newsroom)
