Merz vows to press ahead with reforms after historic German state election defeat

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered a significant defeat in a state election, winning 4.9% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, according to CNBC World. This result is the party's lowest in any state since World War II. The CDU's performance was also described as its worst result since 1949 by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

The hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was projected to win the state elections. Despite the disappointing result, Merz acknowledged it as a "disaster" but vowed to press ahead with his government's reform agenda, as reported by CBS News. He also stated that he would continue with potentially painful reforms to Europe's biggest economy, according to CBC News.

Merz's CDU party faced a bruising electoral setback in the state elections. The Chancellor's commitment to moving forward with reforms comes amid growing pressure on him following the AfD's strong performance.

Brief written by urgent.news from CNBC World, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, CBS News, CBC News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.