German voters cast their ballots in Sunday’s election, with opposition leader Friedrich Merz claiming victory. Exit polls also indicate that Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is heading for the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

Exit polls project Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) garnered the biggest vote share in the country’s elections Sunday—and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is projected to nab a historic number of votes after garnering the endorsement of billionaire Elon Musk.

The vote comes at a pivotal time for Europe, which faces an increasingly assertive Trump administration.

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.

The Christian Democratic Union has won a plurality in the Bundestag, preliminary exit polls suggested Sunday, while the far-right AfD has come in second.

The margin of error for individual polls is estimated from the poll’s sample size and the number of eligible German voters reported by the German Federal Statistical Office.

Millions of German voters headed to the polling stations earlier today to have a say on who will take a seat in the Bundestag.

For the new Germans originally from Syria, the election is weighted with extra significance. Many of them fled their country because of the civil war that followed former Presiden

The far-right AfD likely will score its best ever result as Europe's ailing economic powerhouse lurches rightwards. The conservative CDU/CSU bloc is set to win, but will be unlikely to secure a majority.