Summary

• Car's driver arrested, police say
• Suspect a German man from neighbouring state
• No indications of religious of extremist motivation...

Sunday’s German election could be the last chance for Europe’s centrist rulers, under assault from populist parties and an antagonistic U.S. administration, to show they can solve the region’s piling problems.

“It should be a priority to strengthen Europe as fast as possible so that we gradually achieve independence from the U.S.” Friedrich Merz, the victor of the election and Germany’s likely next chancellor, said on Sunday. “It’s clear that the Americans, at least this American administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.” 

Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has slammed US interference in the German elections, calling it 'as drastic, dramatic and shameful as that from Moscow' as the AfD surges into second place.

Merz, who is set to be the next German Chancellor after his conservative CDU took 28.5 per cent of the vote, last night criticised election interference by the US after tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Trump administration voiced support for the AfD.

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

Merz, an old-school conservative who has never held a government role previously, is set to lead Europe’s biggest economy and most populous state, after his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party won 28.6% of the vote, according to preliminary official results.

The centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its leader Friedrich Merz were the big winners of German federal elections on Sunday with 28% of the vote, provisional results confirmed.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) was second with 20%, doubling its vote share from Germany's last election in 2021, which turned out to be the best result for a far-right party in the country since World War II.

Germany's hard right AfD has surged to second place in the snap election with the conservative opposition emerging as the largest party overall. 

The exit poll suggests the conservative CDU have topped Sunday's election securing 28.5 per cent of the vote.

Meanwhile, the AfD have taken 20 per cent of ballots cast which is the strongest showing for a far-right party in Germany's post war era.

At the ripe age of 69, Friedrich Merz has waited decades for this moment. Ahead of Sunday’s election, he is Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, with his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) predicted to secure 30% of the vote. He’ll have to cobble together another coalition of disparate parties, but Merz won’t mind. Come Monday morning, he will have completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent political history.

Friedrich Merz did not even wait for the final results in Germany's election before delivering what could well be a defining verdict on U.S. President Donald Trump, consigning Europe's 80-year alliance with the United States to the past.

The Trump administration does not care about Europe and is aligning with Russia, said Merz, who is on course to become Germany's new leader. The continent, he warned, must urgently strengthen its defenses and potentially even find a replacement for NATO — within months.