Germany's next leader, Friedrich Merz, has issued a stark warning to Europe that the United States has become "largely indifferent" to the continent's fate and it must become independent.

He also criticised interference from US officials in Sunday's election, which his conservative CDU/CSU party won, after the Trump administration and Elon Musk supported the far-right AfD.

Merz told a roundtable TV discussion on Sunday night that his "absolute priority" would be to "strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that we can achieve real independence from the US step by step".

The result was however hailed by President Trump, who posted on social media that it was "a great day for Germany".