![Michael Probst A damaged election poster shows German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/ca51fb8559d2486bb70fa24d027b0ec0/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
A damaged election poster shows German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
![Markus Schreiber German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a Social Democratic Party, SPD, board meeting the day after the European election at the party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/d1da77bdb2c144ebabf391e8a6036090/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a Social Democratic Party, SPD, board meeting the day after the European election at the party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)
![Markus Schreiber Social Democratic Party, DPD, top candidate Katarina Barley, left, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, listen to co-chairman Lars Klingbeil, right, during a Social Democratic Party, SPD, board meeting the day after the European election at the party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/0c1f4fc1c7224d1c9992f0790a9cb6e1/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Social Democratic Party, DPD, top candidate Katarina Barley, left, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, listen to co-chairman Lars Klingbeil, right, during a Social Democratic Party, SPD, board meeting the day after the European election at the party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)
![Fabian Sommer Friedrich Merz, Federal Chairman of the CDU, speaks after the first projections at a press conference in the Konrad Adenauer House, in Berlin, Sunday June 9, 2024. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/71207d0456d54358b3d86a386c82c9af/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Friedrich Merz, Federal Chairman of the CDU, speaks after the first projections at a press conference in the Konrad Adenauer House, in Berlin, Sunday June 9, 2024. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
![Markus Schreiber German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives for a Social Democratic Party, SPD, board meeting the day after the European election at the party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/eb99c0e838804e0392a0515be96dba4f/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives for a Social Democratic Party, SPD, board meeting the day after the European election at the party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)