Now that returns of the German elections are in, we know that political novice Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party came in first and will have to try to cobble together a coalition government. I’m sure the conservatives are rejoicing but their enthusiasm is tempered by the sobering reality that this is the second-worst result they’ve had in the postwar era.

The Union and Social Democrats were post-World War II Germany’s heavyweights. But their support has been eroding for at least two decades as the political landscape has become more fragmented. Their combined showing Sunday was their weakest since the postwar federal republic was founded in 1949.

The Social Democrats had their worst postwar showing with just 16.4% of the vote. The Union had its second-worst with 28.5%. This is only the second time that the winning party polled less than 30%; the first was in 2021.

The right-leaning vote was badly splintered because the Elon Musk-endorsed Neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany (AfD) party came in second place with 20.8 percent of the vote. It came in first in the region that made up former East Germany. Despite this, the Christian Democratic Union wants nothing to do with it and will try to form a coalition government with the outgoing Social Democrats and the Greens.

That’s far from a natural political bloc, as an article in Politico explains. But what unites them is fear of Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and their own Neo-Nazis. Merz was very clear in his post-election comments that his conservative movement is very different from America’s.

Friedrich Merz did not even wait for the final results in Germany’s election before delivering what could well be a defining verdict on U.S. President Donald Trump, consigning Europe’s 80-year alliance with the United States to the past.

The Trump administration does not care about Europe and is aligning with Russia, said Merz, who is on course to become Germany’s new leader. The continent, he warned, must urgently strengthen its defenses and potentially even find a replacement for NATO — within months…

…“My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting said. “I never thought I would have to say something like this on a television program. But after Donald Trump’s statements last week at the latest, it is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”

Between Musk’s outright endorsement of the Neo-Nazis and Vice-President J.D. Vance’s decision to meet with their leader and not with him or the leaders of the other contending parties, Merz felt the administration was joining with Putin to interfere in the election on the side of the fascists.

“I have absolutely no illusions about what is happening from America,” Merz said during a televised debate on Sunday night. “Just look at the recent interventions in the German election campaign by Mr. Elon Musk — that is a unique event. The interventions from Washington were no less dramatic and drastic and ultimately outrageous than the interventions we have seen from Moscow. We are under such massive pressure from two sides that my absolute priority now really is to create unity in Europe.”

Along with building a replacement for NATO, Merz is talking about working with the United Kingdom and France to create their own nuclear umbrella, since the Americans now appear to be more enemy than reliable protector and friend. The task will be difficult because there is strong resistance to increased defense spending from the Greens and far left parties.

The one area of ideological affinity between Merz, the Neo-Nazis and the MAGA movement is opposition to nonwhite immigration, but that stance will make it difficult to work in tandem with the Social Democrats.

In the election campaign, Merz promised a radical crackdown on immigration, saying he would not compromise on the issue. He drew sharp SPD criticism for pushing a parliamentary resolution on migration last month with support from the AfD.

The move was seen by critics as an unforgivable breach of a political quarantine to keep the AfD out of power. SPD politicians said they could no longer trust Merz as a result.

Americans, very much including the American media, seem to be in denial about the fact that Trump is in an alliance against the Western democracies, but when the mainstream conservative party in Germany is so clear-eyed about it, hopefully this will begin to change.

Nothing will get better until our fascist regime is defeated.