Merz had signalled openness to reforming Germany’s “debt brake” to finance badly needed infrastructure investments and a Europe-wide drive to increase defence budgets, even as his Christian Democrats (CDU) officially maintained their commitment to the rule in the run-up to Sunday’s vote.

German voters cast their ballots in Sunday’s election, with opposition leader Friedrich Merz claiming victory. Exit polls also indicate that Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is heading for the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

Centre-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc emerged as the frontrunner in Germany’s national election on Sunday, though without a decisive victory, according to exit polls by ARD and ZDF public television.