Berlin, Feb. 24 -- Friedrich Merz's conservatives have won Germany's election, well ahead of rival parties but short of the 30 pc vote share they had expected, media reports said.
"Let's celebrate tonight, and in the morning we'll get to work," he told cheering supporters. His immediate priority is to try to form a government with the third-placed Social Democrats of Olaf Scholz, the BBC reported.
Even before the result was clear, Merz said his top priority was unity in Europe, so that "step by step, we can really achieve independence from the US."
According to reports, the other big winner in Sunday's vote was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who are celebrating a record second-place result of 20.8pc.
Alice Weidel, the AfD'...