It's a historic result for the Alternative for Germany party (AfD): just 12 years after the far-right party was founded, it has become the second-largest political force in the country.

With around 20% of the vote, it almost doubled its result from the last federal election in 2021. In eastern Germany, it has even become the strongest political party.

On election night, AfD lead candidate Alice Weidel stressed again that her party is willing to enter into a coalition with the winning center-right alliance of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

At the same time, she lashed........

© Deutsche Welle