UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer has invited the outgoing German chancellor and other key leaders to a defence meeting in London on Sunday. View on euronews

The German chancellor, who defied calls to step aside after his government fell apart, is down in the polls but insisting he can still win.

The decisions Germany’s next leader takes on the revival of the defence sector - and particularly its funding - will be key for Ukraine, Nato and the UK-EU reset

Mr Merz's conservative bloc wants to ally with Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), who came in third, after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic second place.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and opposition leader Friedrich Merz will face off in a final head-to-head debate Wednesday, four days before the election, in a campaign overshadowed by the rise of the far right.

Germany’s conservative opposition won the most votes in the snap national election as mainstream parties vowed to fight a surge in far-right support off the back of a spate of terror attacks and economic turmoil.

Regardless of the outcome, Sunday's German election marks a rejection of the centrist political establishment and a shift to the right.

Germany’s Merz welcomes Starmer’s interest in closer post-Brexit EU relations - Friedrich Merz questioned the reliability of the United States as an ally, calling for better European integration