Germany's outgoing government was a " traffic light coalition " of the SDP (red), the classical liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP, yellow), and the Greens (green). It was an ideologically incoherent arrangement that presided over several years of economic doldrums,

Ad Policy The Social Democratic Party, which had implemented ambitious climate policies, is out. And a conservative government that has criticized renewable energy will be in powe

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a news conference at the Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives at a special party convention of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/, File)

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz declared victory after his Christian Democrats won nearly 29% of the votes in the country’s federal election. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party faced a historic defeat with the lowest vote share for the center-left party since 1949.

The ruling Social Democrats called the election after losing a coalition partner last autumn and a confidence vote in parliament last December. But th

A deal with the SDP, party of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz who finished in a humbling third place, would allow Merz to keep the far-right AfD away from power. The AfD finished second with 20.8 percent of the vote,