Yesterday, fifty-nine million voters cast their ballots in what is considered a defining election for Europe’s future.

It was a big night for the Christian Democrats, which came out on top. This is a good reason for Merz, the likely next chancellor, to celebrate – but maybe not too hard, as the far-right AfD is now the second force in parliament.

For the Social Democrats, it was more of an existential crisis, performing the lowest score ever in a result that Scholz himself described as a "defeat."

But what happens next? And what does Merz hold for the future of the EU?

Euractiv’s editor-in-chief Matthew Karnitschnig and German bureau chief Nick Alipour reacted to the results as they were coming in from our Berlin office.