The Beginning of the End of the EU

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to stay in office to press ahead with reforms despite heavy losses for his Christian Democratic Union party and surges in support for the far right and far left in regional elections.

Merz’s conservatives were on the brink of failing to win parliamentary representation in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Estimates based on partial results put their vote share at just 5 per cent, the threshold for entering the Landtag. The CDU secured 13 per cent in previous elections in 2021.

The far-right Alternative for Germany was expected to become the largest party in the former East German state, the partial results showed. The results are set to be the CDU’s lowest in any state election in Germany’s postwar history.

Speaking minutes after polls closed yesterday, Merz, who is grappling with record unpopularity, sought to quash speculation that the setbacks would trigger an immediate leadership crisis following weeks of mounting unrest within his party.

“This is a disaster,” Merz said of the results in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the former home state of ex-CDU chancellor Angela Merkel. The result, he added, was a reaction to his government’s necessary economic reforms, which he would seek to pursue in order to achieve “prosperity”.

“The reforms must come,” Merz said, adding: “What needs to be done requires backbone, steadfastness and patience. I will demonstrate this as the CDU’s party leader and, especially, as our country’s chancellor