Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor, reporting from Berlin

One in five Germans voted for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Sunday’s election, a party which media outlets, including the BBC, describe as far right.

Despite coming second, the AfD is blocked from being part of the next government because of a policy of non-cooperation by other parties, known as the "firewall" – or brandmauer – which has been in place since the end of World War Two.

The AfD’s leader Alice Weidel insists it's a libertarian, conservative movement, not racist. The other main German parties disagree and view the AfD as extremist.

In May 2024, a German court rejected an AfD appeal against a ruling classifying it as a suspected far-right extremist organisation. Judges found that the AfD had "positions that disparage the democratic order and are incompatible with the principle of democracy", external.

In three German states in the east - Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony - domestic intelligence has designated the AfD as right-wing extremist.

A leading AfD figure in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, has twice been convicted of using a banned Nazi slogan "Alles für Deutschland" - everything for Germany. Alice Weidel supporters have chanted her name during the election campaign, using the phrase "Alice für Deutschland".

We're about to hear from outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, who yesterday saw one of the worst results for their party in a federal election in decades, scoring just over 16% of the vote.

And a short time after, around 12:30GMT we'll hear from last night's winner, the leader of the CDU/CSU conservative alliance Friedrich Merz.

You can follow both by tapping Watch live at the top of the screen.

Germany's small and medium-sized businesses are fearful of the futurepublished at 11:40 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February

11:40 GMT 24 February

Theo Leggett
International business correspondent

Germany’s big businesses are known around the world – the likes of Bosch, Volkswagen, Siemens or BASF - but it is small- and medium-sized businesses that form the backbone of the country’s economy.

Known as the “Mittelstand”, there are more than 3 million of them, many family firms that have been passed from one generation to the next.

They make up around 99% of all companies and account for 60% of all employment. Right now many of them are struggling, and fearful of the future. Insolvencies are rising. It is a sector in crisis.

The most common complaints? Too much bureaucracy and regulation, from the German government and from Brussels; high taxes, an overly complex tax system, and a shortage of skilled workers.

Immigration may have dominated the election debate, but reviving the economy will be a priority for Friedrich Merz and whichever parties form the new coalition.

For that to happen, addressing the concerns of the Mittelstand will be absolutely vital.

• Listen to Theo’s reporting from Germany on BBC Sounds

Funding German independence from US won't be easypublished at 11:27 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February

11:27 GMT 24 February

Jonathan Josephs
Business reporter

As we told you earlier, the favourite to be Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, wants a stronger Europe that is more independent of the United States.

That’s going to take money - and while Germany has traditionally been Europe’s wealthy economic powerhouse, that’s no longer the case.

Even though its avoided the technical definition of a recession, the economy has shrunk for the last two years as it continues to suffer the consequences of both the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine war.

Although the government is predicting growth of just 0.3% this year, many other influential economic bodies are forecasting a third year of decline.

Germany’s companies are struggling to compete with foreign rivals because of high energy costs and borrowing costs.

It adds up to less exports and profits as well as rising unemployment.

That means a fall in the amount of tax money coming into the government, and with strict rules limiting borrowing, it's going to be hard for the new chancellor to fund his ambitions of greater independence.

Nick Edser
Business reporter

Image source, Reuters

The euro touched a one-month high and German stocks rose after the conservatives won the election as expected, but analysts say questions remain over whether the new government can boost spending.

Shanti Kelemen, chief investment officer at M&G Wealth, told the BBC’s Today programme the expectation was the new government would “spend a bit more money, probably on defence but also to jump-start the economy”.

The slight rise in the euro reflected that if Germany can see higher growth, “maybe you don’t need to reduce interest rates as much in the eurozone”.

The euro hit $1.05 at one point, before falling back. On the German stock market, the Dax index of leading shares rose 0.8%.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted that increasing government spending in Germany was not simple due to strict rules.

While Friedrich Merz “seems determined” to reform the so-called debt brake, which limits annual borrowing by the federal government to 0.35% of GDP, she said “it won’t be straightforward, because he will need a two-third majority in parliament”.

Thomas Erndl, an MP for the Christian Democrats (CDU), tells the BBC that a coalition between his party and the Social Democrats needs to be formed as quickly as possible.

He dismissed suggestions from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) that the coalition would collapse and says he believes both parties know "things have to change".

Erndl also downplayed the impact of the Trump administration and Elon Musk's backing of the AfD.

"It was surprising to hear from the United States, that they interfered that happily in our elections. But I'm not sure how much influence they had in the end", he says.

Image source, Reuters

Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader has revealed that she took a phone call from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who congratulated her on the party's election success.

Alice Weidel says that the AfD is "in communication" with the Trump administration in Washington and she had woken up to a number of missed calls from the US.

Weidel - whose party secured nearly 21% of the vote - says the AfD's results in Sunday's vote was "a historic success" and a sign that "we are on the rise".

"That is an incredible success considering that our party is only twelve years old. No one in Europe has ever managed to establish themselves as a people's party in such a short time", she says.

We can now bring you a bit more information about the breakdown of Germany's vote by gender.

The largest difference was for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which won 24% of the vote among men compared to 18% among women.

That's followed by the Left party, which has received 11% of the vote from women and 7% from men.

Paul Kirby
Reporting from Berlin

Image source, Reuters

Friedrich Merz took over the CDU in 2021 and ran under the slogan "A Germany we can be proud of again".

He has promised permanent border controls and faster asylum rules to restrict immigration, and to cut taxes and slash €50bn (£41bn) in welfare spending in a bid to kickstart Germany's faltering economy. He has also promised to bolster aid for Ukraine.

He has also promised greater leadership from Germany in Europe, and beefed-up support for Ukraine, refusing to rule out the country's future membership of Nato.

If you're just joining us for coverage of the German elections, here are the preliminary results in full.

As we've been reporting, the CDU/CSU conservative alliance has secured the most votes, with party leader Friedrich Merz favoured to be the next chancellor. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged, securing 151 seats and nearly 21% of the vote.

You can take a look at the preliminary results - and the makeup of Germany's new parliament - in our charts below.

Friedrich Merz's conservatives have won and are well ahead of rival parties, but short of the 30% vote-share they had expected.

Leaders from around Europe are continuing to offer their congratulations to Friedrich Merz, the CDU/CSU conservative alliance's pick for chancellor. Last night, we heard from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and France's President Emmanuel Macron.

We can now bring you a bit more from other world leaders:

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered his congratulations on X, writing "a strong Europe requires us to work together to face common challenges".

On X, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala writes that he wishes Merz's CDU/CSU "much strength and success in forming the federal government."

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif writes on X that he looks "forward to working with the new government".

Meanwhile Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Alice Weidel, the Alternative for Germany's (AfD) candidate for chancellor who came second, saying "the people of Germany voted for change in immense numbers", congratulating her on "doubling AfD’s share of the votes".

Image source, Getty Images

Former German ambassador to the UK, Thomas Matussek, says it's a "very dangerous moment in time".

"For the last 80 years we lived under the American protective umbrella. The West as we knew it is not there anymore," he tells the Today programme.

"Our big protector the US has changed sides and seems to ally itself with the 'evil empire'", Matussek says, using former US President Ronald Reagan's term for the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

"Europe is on its own, and desperately needs Germany in the leading role with Britain by our side," Matussek says.

The former ambassador says Germany has to be serious about its own defence capability, because "the pain level has increased". He adds that if the new government doesn't strike the right balance, the AfD could become the strongest party in Germany - a prospect he calls "really frightening".

Image source, Getty Images

Jürgen Hardt of the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU/CSU) says his party has four years to convince far-right voters that it offers economic and security solutions.

He tells Radio 4's Today programme that the new government has the chance to halve the number of Alternative for Germany (AfD) voters - the party got 20.8% of the vote - and says the far-right party has now "reached its peak" and "will not succeed any longer".

Hardt, who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009, says Germany, Europe and the US have a "common face in fighting for freedom and democracy". But, he adds, JD Vance's speech in Munich was "irritating" for its lack of information about the US's future role in Nato and the endorsement of Alternative for Germany.

Image source, EPA

The Alternative for Germany's (AfD) candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, says "Germans have voted for change" after results showed her party had grown to the second-largest in the German parliament.

The AfD enjoyed a 10-point increase in support on four years ago, benefiting from a successful TikTok campaign that drew in big numbers of young voters.

But Weidel's party are unlikely to be involved in coalition talks as there is a political "firewall" preventing mainstream parties in Germany from operating with the far right.

She said Friedrich Merz would fail in his attempt to forge a resilient coalition: "We'll have fresh elections - I don't think we'll have to wait another four years."

It was a sobering night for Germany's Social Democrat Party (SPD), falling from leading the government to third place - behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

One politician who has been re-elected, Ruppert Stüwe, has just appeared on Radio 4's Today programme, and argues his party is still a political force.

He says that the Social Democrats are still needed in Germany as part of a "stable political system".

Stüwe concedes that his leader Olaf Scholz didn't get their points across successfully, and after three years leading the government "people didn't believe the change we promised".

But he rejected the notion that voters had increasingly looked to the extreme left and right, saying that the "strong majority voted against" a right-wing party leading the government.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Friedrich Merz after his victory in the German elections last night to congratulate him on his victory, his office says.

"Merz thanked the Prime Minister for his conversation and said he would invite him for an official visit to Germany, in blatant defiance of the International Criminal Court's scandalous decision to define the Prime Minister as a war criminal," the statement reads.

Last November, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, alongside Israel's former defence minister and the military commander of Hamas. If Netanyahu travels to an ICC member state, he could face arrest.

Germany recognises the court's authority and would be compelled to arrest Netanyahu if he entered the country.

Image source, EPA

Jessica Parker
Berlin correspondent

Image source, EPA

It’s been a nail-biting night for the small left-populist BSW party, led and founded by the prominent German politician - Sahra Wagenknecht.

But it appears BSW - which combines left leaning economic policies with conservative migration positions - has missed the 5% threshold to make it into the Bundestag, by a hair’s breadth.

However, that’s good news for Germany’s likely next Chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

It adjusts the electoral maths and means he can aim to broker a two - rather than three - party coalition.

It looks like the numbers could be there to build a narrow parliamentary majority if a deal can be done with the social democratic SPD; a so-called "grand coalition".

Let's take stock of where we are this morning, after yesterday's German election:

• The Christian Democrats (CDU) achieved the largest share of the vote and their leader Friedrich Merz is likely to be elected chancellor
• The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged into second place in the poll, enjoying large success in the east of the country
• Merz issued a warning to Europe that the US was now "indifferent" to the continent and said his first priority would be for European nations to reduce reliance on the US for defence as he cast doubt on whether Nato could continue in its current form
• On the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he also issued a statement of support for Ukraine and called for them to be involved in any negotiations for a peace deal
• The CDU will now look to form a coalition, but have ruled out working with the AfD and will hold talks with the Social Democrats, who under outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz suffered their worst election result
• The leadership of the main parties will be meeting this morning to form their plans for the new parliament, with a series of news conferences expected this afternoon from the key players

Image source, Reuters

The BBC has just spoken to the Deputy leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Beatrix von Storch, whose party had a record second-place result with 20.8% of votes.

Asked for her reaction, she says: "The future is bright - it's about migration."

"People want to close our borders, to not let any illegal migrant into our country, to send back all the hundreds of thousands who came from Syria and celebrated the fall of Assad in our streets, and those from Afghanistan and when peace is in Ukraine, also those from Ukraine."

Von Storch says people should go back to those countries voluntarily as there is no longer a war to justify their need for asylum.

Telling Radio 4's Today programme how she feels about her party being left out of coalition talks, she ridicules the idea of a CDU/Social Democrats coalition and says the SDP, who led the previous government, were "responsible for our problems".

She says: "People are backing us. They want to have their problems solved and the problems and migration and energy and economics."

New German leader signals seismic shift in transatlantic relationspublished at 07:43 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February

07:43 GMT 24 February

Katya Adler
Europe editor

Image source, Getty Images

Germany's chancellor-in-waiting didn't wait for the final results of his country's election on Sunday to herald a new era in Europe.

Declaring the US indifferent to this continent's fate, Friedrich Merz questioned the future of Nato and demanded Europe boost its own defences. Quickly.

This tone from the close US ally - and from Merz who is known to be a passionate Atlanticist - would have been unimaginable even a couple of months ago.

It's a seismic shift. That may read like hyperbole, but what we are now experiencing in terms of transatlantic relations is unprecedented in the 80 years since the end of World War Two.

Big European powers have been shocked to the core by the Trump administration, which suggests it could revoke the security guarantees to Europe in place since 1945.

On Sunday night, Friedrich Merz put Donald Trump's America on a par with Russia - widely viewed here as a security threat to Europe more broadly.

• Read more about how Merz said Europe was now being squeezed by the two nations, which is why it had to take urgent action