Europe must seek to “achieve independence” from the United States, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said after his opposition conservatives won elections on Sunday, in a vote that also saw surging support for the far-right.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now on course to win 20.5% of the vote, according to latest projections - but there is no way Friedrich Merz will work with it because of a long-standing political taboo against working with the far right, known as a Brandmauer - a firewall.

Germany’s economy is stalled and its politics fractured. But it sees an opening for a new chancellor to lead Europe’s response to a changing America.