The euro and European government bond yields slipped after the EU’s most powerful leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, won a fourth term but faced a fractured parliament as support for the far right surged.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) was founded four years ago at the height of the eurozone crisis, when opposition to a German bailout of other countries using the common currency was strong.

German chancellor Angela Merkel has won a fourth term, but now faces the tricky prospect of forming a coalition with two disparate new partners after voters weakened her conservatives and a nationalist, anti-migrant party surged into parliament.

Germany has spoken and, as ever since 1945, it sends in its election results mixed messages, thanks in part to a constitution designed to prevent one party getting an overall majority in the Bundestag.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc has won a lacklustre victory in Germany’s national election while the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany party managed a triumphant entry into parliament, projections have shown.

Latest: Angela Merkel has conceded that "of course we would have preferred a better result, that's completely clear".

The Netherlands election has energised traditional parties across Europe from left and right, with Dutch voters showing Europe that populism is not always inevitable, suggest Raf Casert and Angela Charlton. 

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility after a Syrian blew himself up outside a wine bar, injuring 15 people.

A top member of a rising nationalist party has been criticised after reportedly saying many people would not want Jerome Boateng, a German international footballer whose father was born in Ghana, as their neighbour.

Germany’s interior ministry dismissed remarks from a populist politician who called for police to be given powers to use firearms against illegal migrants, pointing out such shootings would be illegal.

German chancellor Angela Merkel faces increased dissent within her governing coalition over extending Greece’s bailout as part of her goal of keeping the eurozone intact.

Germany expects talks with Greece to drag on until the current round of bailout funding runs out and is prepared to play a waiting game until April or May, when the country approaches a cash crunch, a person familiar with the matter said.

Germany’s anti-immigrant movement Pegida isn’t some sinister Russian plot. Instead, it is striking for the ordinariness of the people it attracts and must be taken seriously, writes Lucian Kim

A day after calling Islam part of Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government would use all means at its disposal to fight intolerance and discrimination, calling the exclusion of certain groups from society “humanly reprehensible”.

Angela Merkel was on track to win a third term as chancellor in a German election after her conservatives scored their best result in decades, but it was unclear whether she could avoid being forced into a coalition with her leftist rivals.

Chancellor Angela Merkel looked on track to win a third term in this weekend’s election in Germany but faced a battle to preserve her centre-right majority and avert a potentially divisive coalition with her arch rivals, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).