German conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the country's presumptive next chancellor, is not expected to accompany outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz to a special EU summit in Brussels next month. Merz does not need a "government internship" or "hand-holding" ahead of taking power in Berlin,

Germany faces its second change of leader in less than four years after the head of the center-right opposition won Sunday’s election.

The results of Germany’s February 23 election have cemented a chilling trend that has increasingly characterized European politics in the 21st century: the collapse of social democracy and the subsequent resurgence of far right parties and movements,