Germany's conservatives, the CDU/CSU alliance, won the country's parliamentary elections on Sunday, February 23 with 28.6% of the vote, ahead of the far-right AfD party, which achieved its best-ever score with 20.8% of the vote. This score enables the president of the CDU party, Friedrich Merz, to realize his dream, or rather his revenge: to become Germany's chancellor.

Angela Merkel's rival, a corporate lawyer and millionaire, and a politician accused of cooperating with the far-right AfD... Here's what you need to know about Friedrich Merz.