Sri Lanka, Feb. 24 -- Friedrich Merz, set to become Germany's next chancellor after his opposition conservatives won Sunday's national election, has pledged to work towards making Europe "truly independent" from the U.S. as he begins coalition negotiations.

Merz, 69, faces a challenging political landscape after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic second place, following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way alliance. Mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD, which received endorsements from figures such as U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Despite previously being viewed as an Atlanticist, Merz criticized Washington's "ultimately outrageous" interference during the campaign, likeni...