The leader of the right-wing populist FPÖ in Austria, Herbert Kickl, congratulated Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on its improved result in Sunday's parliamentary election. "In the firewall" of the mainstream parties "there is now a huge hole,

Outgoing German chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded the election and decried the historic gains of the far-right conservative party, AfD. Early exit polls show AfD is headed for second place, while opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservatives are in the lead and Scholz’s party fell to third.

World leaders have congratulated Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), for winning the German elections. However, as the plaudits rolled in, others were focused on the surge of the far right as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party celebrated its best showing at the polls at 20.

After the failure of the coalition talks with the conservative People's Party (ÖVP), the leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), Herbert Kickl, believes that the party's entry into the Chancellery has only been postponed.

The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the second largest party in parliament after Sunday's election, said Germany's likely next chancellor would be held hostage by left-wing parties that would seek to loosen tough fiscal rules.

Polls are open across Germany as the world’s third largest economy chooses a new leader to guide it through an era of febrile immigration debates and souring relations with Washington.