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`We have to acknowledge we have lost the election` - Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), says the election results are "bitter" for his party, calling it a "defeat".

As a reminder, the exit polls showed the SPD coming in third, with 16-16.5% of the vote.

Speaking to supporters in Berlin, Scholz says it is a moment "in which we have to acknowledge we have lost the election".

In the previous election, he says, the party had a "better" result that he was "responsible" for, adding that this result "is worse, and I am responsible for that too".

Scholz goes on to congratulate Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats party.