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German leader vows to press on with agenda despite 'disaster' state election losses to AfD

The chancellor rejected calls to step aside and said Germany needs difficult reforms after the CDU posted its worst state-election result in decades.

  • German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to remain in office Sunday after his Christian Democratic Union suffered a historic 5% result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the party's lowest score since World War II.
  • Taking office 16 months ago, Merz has struggled to rally the nation, with his popularity plummeting following the CDU's stinging defeat to the AfD in the Saxony-Anhalt election on September 6.
  • In Berlin, the CDU finished second with 20%, trailing Die Linke at 24.5%, while the Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany secured 37% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and 16% in Berlin.
  • Although calls for his resignation emerged within his party, eight state premiers declared on Wednesday that Germany needs "stability now more than ever" rather than "discussions about personnel" regarding the chancellor.
  • Merz cancelled a scheduled trip to New York next week for the General Assembly, insisting that Germany's economic troubles make his reform agenda more urgent, not less.
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95 Articles

Lean Right

Germany's ruling party suffered defeats to far-right parties in two more state elections, with the Chancellor frankly admitting the results were disastrous but insisting she would not resign.

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Lean Right

"Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU party reviews on or 5.5 per cent in the inning parliamentary changes in Mecklenburg-Vorpomern.

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Center

Berlin, 20 Sep (EFE).- The German Chancellor and president of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, admitted this Sunday that the result in the elections of the northeastern federated state of Mecklenburg-Antepomerania, where his strength would have obtained only between 5% and 5.5%, is a "disaster", although he showed himself to be a fighter and refused [...] The Merz entry qualifies the result in northeastern Germany as "disast…

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Lean Left

This Sunday's elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin are two new camouflages for Friedrich Merz's party. The CDU takes two crazy defeats against the far right and the radical left, after that of Saxony-Anhalt two weeks ago. The chancellor is under pressure but has announced to remain in the post and keep his courseIt is a catastrophic evening that the German Christian Democrats have lived this Sunday.

·Geneva, Switzerland
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  • 34% of the sources are Center, 34% of the sources lean Right
34% Right

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BBC News broke the news in London, United Kingdom on Sunday, September 20, 2026.
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