Germany Election
Top candidate for the Saxony-Anhalt state elections Ulrich Siegmund, center, attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026.
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has doubled down on pushing through unpopular reforms to Europe’s largest economy after a far-right party surged to a landslide victory in a regional election, with a very good chance of forming the first far-right state government since the Nazi era. Merz said his center-right Christian Democratic Union was “deeply shocked” by what he called “the most serious election defeat that the CDU has had for years, for decades.” But he indicated that he’s determined to stay at the helm and said that “giving up is not an option for me.” The anti-migration and Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany, or AfD, fell just short of a majority in Sunday’s vote in Saxony-Anhalt.
