Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz said he’ll move quickly to form a new government after he won Sunday’s federal election with a result that will require him to form a coalition.

Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc won 28.6% of the votes, followed by 20.8% for the far-right Alternative for Germany, according to the provisional vote count by the Federal Returning Officer. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats finished third with 16.4%, the party’s worst result since World War II.

The election comes at a delicate moment as Europe’s biggest economy contends with stagnating growth, Russia’s war in Ukraine and US President Donald Trump threatening a global trade war that could hobble Germany’s struggling industrial sector. European Union leaders will meet next week to discuss the bloc’s precarious defense situation.

There’s no reasonable alternative to forming a government in Germany in a reasonable and timely manner,” Merz said in a debate Sunday night, adding that he wanted to form a coalition within the next two months. “The world isn’t waiting for us — Europe is waiting for Germany, that we take a stronger leadership role again.”

The euro strengthened in Asia, with results broadly in line with market expectations. Investors’ attention will now turn to how quickly Merz can form a government.