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The Briefing: Angela Merkel
Good morning, and welcome to The Briefing.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won a fourth term in power after her Christian Democrats easily outpolled main rivals the Social Democrats.
The real story of the election was the return of the far right to German politics, with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party placing third, with more than 13 per cent of the vote and securing about 90 seats in the Bundestag. Founded in 2013 in response to Merkel’s decision to let some 900,000 Syrian refugees into the country, the AfD has promoted anti-Islam policies and questioned Germany’s longstanding approach to commemorating its history in World War Two.
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Alex McKinnon, The Saturday Paper