Germany's conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, whose centre-right bloc won the country's election on Sunday, visited Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday for initial talks. Merz is almost certain to replace Scholz as the country's next chancellor after his Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party,

Germany has headed to the polls this Sunday for snap federal elections in a vote that will shape the course of the EU's largest member state and its biggest economy for the next four years. The incoming government will inherit an economy that has shrunk for two years in a row for the first time in decades,

Friedrich Merz's conservative party is the winner of the German general election, while current Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party experienced its worst result since the late 19th century.