Analysts say Friedrich Merz will have one shot at fending off ascending populists and an increasingly hostile U.S.

Europe must seek to “achieve independence” from the United States, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said after his opposition conservatives won elections on Sunday, in a vote that also saw surging support for the far-right.

German stocks rallied on Monday and the euro reached a one-month high after Germany’s election result put centrist parties on track to form a coalition.