Germany’s center-right parties are on course to return to power after four years in opposition, while a far-right party that has garnered praise from top Trump administration figures doubled its vote for an unprecedented second-place finish in Sunday’s national elections, according to the first exit polls from Berlin.

As expected, an alliance of two mainstream conservative parties led by Christian Democratic Union head Friedrich Merz took first in the multiparty race with about 30% of the vote. But the big gainer compared to 2021 was the far-right, anti-immigration populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which was projected to double its vote total and take about 20% of the vote.

The Social Democratic Party of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose three-party coalition government collapsed amid tough economic news and internal policy squabbles last fall, garnered about 16% of the vote, an outcome that Mr. Scholz acknowledged was a “bitter defeat.”

Despite its gains in the polls, there did not appear to be a path to power for the AfD, as virtually all of the other major candidates, including Mr. Merz, said they would not invite the party into coalition government negotiations that will now take place in Berlin.

Mr. Merz told cheering party members Sunday night that the result was a “historic” one, vowing to move quickly to address such issues as the economy, the war in Ukraine and immigration, a hot-button issue that has fueled the AfD’s rise in the polls. The 69-year-old Mr. Merz said he would set to work immediately to “create a government capable of acting in Germany’s interest,” adding, “The world out there is not waiting for us and for lengthy negotiations.”

Interest in the vote was high in Europe’s largest economy, with a projected voter turnout of 87%.

• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.