Germany held early elections to the Bundestag. The winner of this election cycle was the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, while other parties received fewer votes or even failed to make it, German media reported.

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.