Vietnam's PM congratulates German Chancellor Merkel on election victory

Vietnam's Prime Miniter Nguyen Xuan Phuc has sent German Chancellor Angela Merkel a congratulatory letter on her party's victory in the German federal elections, according to the foreign ministry.

Merkel's conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) won the election after securing 33 percent of the votes, 8.5 percent less than at the last election, according to Reuters.

The alliance was followed by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which won 20.5 percent of the votes, and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won 13 percent.

This will be Merkel's fourth term as chancellor, but she now faces the tough task of building a coalition as the SPD said they will go into opposition, the newswire reported.