Sawt Falasteen - German vote winner Merz seeks to build govt with centre-left as Europe waits

The Christian Democrats' (CDU) leader said he would reach out to the Social Democrats (SPD) of vanquished Chancellor Olaf Scholz with hopes of forging a stable ruling alliance of the two traditional big-tent parties.

After the surge of the far-right AfD, Merz said the mainstream parties must answer concerns of voters drifting to the fringes, calling the AfD's record 20 percent result "the last warning to the political parties of the democratic centre in Germany".

Merz, 69, has said he wants a ruling coalition in place within two months so Berlin can act again on the European and world stage after months of paralysis since Scholz's coalition imploded in early November.

US President Donald Trump has blindsided Europe and Ukraine by launching direct talks with Russia to end the war and voicing doubt about America's future commitment to the NATO alliance.

Trump has repeated Russian talking points about Ukraine's supposed responsibility in starting the war, raising concern in Europe that he would agree to Moscow's terms.

Merz, a committed transatlanticist, said Monday he would seek good ties with the United States under Trump but was also ready for "the worst-case scenario".

"All the signals we are receiving from the United States indicate that interest in Europe is decreasing," he told a post-election press conference in Berlin.

- 'Herculean task' ahead -

Merz also said he had a "lengthy" call with Emmanuel Macron late Sunday, as the French president headed to Washington to meet with Trump.

"We discussed the topics he wants to address with the American president, and I found that there was complete agreement between what he wants to say and what I want to say", Merz said.

As the Ukraine war grinds on into a fourth year, Merz also pledged continued support for Kyiv, where other European leaders were meeting for the anniversary.

In Sunday's election, Merz's CDU/CSU bloc handily defeated Scholz's SPD, which scored a historic low of 16 percent, and the Greens, who won 11 percent.

The conservatives are set to first enter talks with the SPD, but without Scholz, who apologised for the "bitter" defeat and will stay on in a caretaker role until a new government is formed.

After a highly polarised campaign, Merz will have to enter a process of horse-trading on party policies and red lines to hammer out a platform for a future governing alliance.

"These are difficult starting conditions for a new German government, which is facing Herculean tasks in domestic and foreign policy," said Cornelia Woll of the Hertie School Berlin.

"One might hope that Germany will nevertheless be able to act quickly, so that it does not just have to watch how Trump and Putin shape the future."

- AfD condemns 'firewall' -

The far-right AfD meanwhile celebrated what it called a "historic" win. Its strong gains, especially in its heartland in the ex-communist east, were driven by fears over immigration after a spate of attacks blamed on migrants.

Merz's CDU/CSU alliance and all other parties have pledged to keep the AfD out of power and behind a "firewall" of non-cooperation.

Merz sparked outrage and street protests during the campaign when he accepted AfD support to pass a parliamentary motion calling for an immigration crackdown.

Critics called that a breach of a post-war taboo in German politics but Merz insists he will never cooperate or govern with the party.

AfD leader Alice Weidel on Monday again urged the mainstream parties to stop isolating them.

"They cannot exclude millions of voters," she said. "That is undemocratic. The firewall must go -- no functioning democracy has a firewall."

Trump ally Elon Musk, who has strongly backed the AfD, said on X that "it's only a matter of time before AfD wins" -- a scenario that worries many German voters.

One of them, Joerg Seiffert, 69, a therapist in Berlin, said he was "very disappointed and frustrated by the rise of the AfD".

"The worst thing would be if the CDU were to join forces with the AfD after all," he said. "And I really don't know today whether it wouldn't actually happen."

O.Salim--SF-PST