It could also be a historic night for the far-right AfD party, if exit polls are accurate. Follow the latest. Merz rules out a coalition with AfD once again – as Weidel says her hands are ‘outstretched’ to join a government. (Photo: Germany elections yesterday).

A bit more from this evening’s on-air debate with German party leaders – where they gave their reaction to the projected results, which put the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc in the lead and far-right AfD party in second.

The CDU’s Friedrich Merz promised to try to form a government for the whole of Germany and has stressed once again that he will not work with the AfD. The AfD’s candidate Alice Weidel said her hand remained “outstretched” to the conservative bloc – and warned that another coalition grouping “will not last”.

She said Merz would be an “interim chancellor, “, and that the AfD will overtake the conservatives in the years to come. Merz responded by saying she could hold out her hand “as much as she liked”, but that there were “fundamental differences” between the parties.  He also repeated he would prefer to form a government with one coalition parliament rather than two – although that will depend on the final election result.

Merz: Europe must be strong in the face of the US – If exit polls are to be believed, the man highly likely to be the next German chancellor has suggested that Europe must step up in the face of mounting pressure from Donald Trump. Speaking in a post-election panel discussion aired by public broadcasters, Friedrich Merz said he wanted to “strengthen Europe as quickly as possible” in the face of an uncertain relationship with America.

“I never thought that I would ever need to say something like that, on television, but after the latest statements made by Donald Trump last week… this administration mostly doesn’t care about the fate of Europe one way or another,” the CDU leader added. “The interventions from Washington were no less dramatic and drastic and ultimately outrageous than the interventions we have seen from Moscow,” he said, referencing support offered by Elon Musk to Germany’s far-right AfD party during the election.

In a post on social media, he added that his impression from the last few days was that Russia and the US are finding common ground. He said they appear to be going “over the head” of Ukraine – and in doing so going over the heads of Europe. For that reason, he said, all eyes are on Germany and how quickly a government can be formed.

Why are voters going far-right? The Alternative for German Party (AfD) is on track to become the second-largest party in the country following today’s elections.  They have high-profile backers like Elon Musk – and could be set for the best result a far-right party has achieved in Germany since the Second World War.

So what is attracting Germans to the far-right? Sky’s Siobhan Robbins takes a close look in this video: Chancellor Scholz says he will not represent SPD in coalition negotiations. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he will not take part in coalition negotiations with the conservative bloc if his SPD party is invited.

“I will not be a SPD representative in a federal government led by the CDU, nor will I negotiate it,” said Scholz in a post-election panel discussion aired by public broadcasters.  Early projections show his party is on course to come in third, behind the CDU/CSU bloc and the far-right AfD.

It would be the party’s worst post-war result in a national parliamentary election. Scholz has conceded defeat after what he called a “bitter election result”. Meanwhile, the leader of the pro-business Free Democratic Party has said he will leave politics if his party does not make it into the new parliament.

Christian Lindner’s FDP was a partner in Scholz’s coalition government – and he served as finance minister until its collapse after he was sacked by the chancellor. It is currently unclear whether the FDP will reach the 5% threshold needed for parties to enter parliament, with current projections showing them just below it.

Centre ‘will never accept’ far-right, Scholz says – A bit more from the incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who conceded the election earlier. Speaking to supporters in Berlin, he addressed the exit poll’s suggestion that the far-right AfD party will take nearly 20% of the vote.

“Now we have the far-right – the AfD – and the fact they got such a good election result is something we cannot accept and I will never accept,” the Social Democrats (SPD) leader said.  “We need to stick to what we have always said, we mustn’t work with the far-right” , he added, saying he hopes other political parties will “keep that promise”.

Courtesy: Sky News