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epa09950463 Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state and CDU top candidate for the NRW state elections Hendrik Wuest (2-R) reacts next to Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and faction chairman Friedrich Merz (2-L) accompanied by the vice-leader of CDU party Silvia Breher (R) and the leader of the CDU in Rhineland-Palatinate Julia Kloeckner (L) at the meeting of the CDU board after the State elections in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in Berlin, Germany, 16 May 2022. EPA/FILIP SINGER