Germany’s political system is set up to exclude extremists. Yet the country is waking up to a new political reality that has lurched to the right with the once outcast Alternative for Germany (AfD) party now firmly established in German politics.

After Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won a plurality of seats in federal elections Sunday, party leader Friedrich Merz

Germany's conservatives won the national election on Sunday, while the far-right Alternative for Germany came in second, its best ever result.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Left Party jointly secured one third of seats in the new parliament, enough to block a loosening of Germany's debt brake - a mechanism some investors and political parties say stymies economic growth.