Germany's Merz vows to press ahead with reforms after historic state election defeat

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has suffered a significant electoral setback in two state elections. His center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party lost ground, with the party achieving its lowest result ever in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, at 5 percent, according to exit polls by public broadcaster ARD.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made significant gains, projected to take 38 percent of the vote share in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In Berlin, the CDU was projected to come in second with 20 percent, behind the Left party at 24.5 percent. Merz acknowledged his party's result as a "disaster" but vowed to press ahead with reforms.

Merz has stated that he will demonstrate "backbone, steadfastness, and patience" as chairman of the CDU and as Chancellor of Germany. According to The Local Germany, Merz has vowed to stay the course despite the electoral defeats.

Brief written by urgent.news from NPR, The Local Germany, South China Morning Post, PBS NewsHour, BBC News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.