Merz wins a messy election then calls for independence from America

THERE HAVE been sweeter victories. As expected, Friedrich Merz’s opposition Christian Democrats (cdu) won Germany’s federal election on February 23rd, in tandem with their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (csu). But the conservative parties’ result of just 28.6%—their second-worst in the history of the republic—muted celebrations at Konrad Adenauer House, the cdu’s Berlin headquarters. With the outgoing government led by Olaf Scholz regularly plumbing new depths of unpopularity, many in Mr Merz’s ranks had hoped for far better. The wound was deepened by the capture of close to a quarter of the seats in the Bundestag by the hard-right Alternative for Germany (afd), a party harbouring extremists that was the night’s big winner. The afd now dominates Germany’s east, and made big gains in the west, too.