Scholz admits defeat: Election results are bitter

(Patria) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, leader of the Social Democratic Party, described the election results as bitter and conceded defeat.

- I think we can be proud of the fact that we worked so closely together in difficult times - Scholz told members of his party in Berlin.

According to exit polls published by the public broadcaster ARD after polling stations closed, the Christian Democrats CDU/CSU won 29 percent of the vote, compared to 24 percent they received in the previous federal elections in 2021.

Friedrich Merz declared victory after the first projections were published.

Merz's main rival, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD), faced a historic defeat in the election with only 16 percent of the vote, the lowest for the centre-left party since 1949.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on the verge of achieving its best-ever result in federal elections, becoming the second strongest party in the country with 19.5 percent.