Hours after Friedrich Merz's conservatives won Germany's national election, he sent the outgoing Social Democrat government a memorandum dictating how to cooperate during the transition period before he took power.

Negotiators from German election winner Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democrats started exploratory talks Friday on a possible coalition government, but were tightlipped on the details as they launched what could be a complicated process.

The Christian Democratic Union’s victory comes despite a strong showing by the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

Germany's conservative leader Friedrich Merz, who came out on top in the snap election results, is aiming to close a coalition agreement with outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD, which came third in the elections.