Germany’s incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced Wednesday his center-right Christian Democratic Union made a deal to form a governing coalition with the center-left Social Democrats. The deal shuts out the extreme-right party Alternative for Germany, which had come in second place in February elections. Merz said Germany would boost its military spending and vowed to enact more hard-line immigration policies.

Friedrich Merz: “As for migration, we will pursue a new approach. We will better organize and steer, and we will all but end illegal migration. There will be border checks and rejections of asylum requests. We will start a deportation program.”