{
  "id": 8821120,
  "title": "Germany’s Merz vows to stay course despite new election defeats",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/germanys-merz-vows-to-stay-course-despite-new-election-defeats",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-21T01:52:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail-malaymail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2026/09/21/germanys-merz-vows-to-stay-course-despite-new-election-defeats/235934"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to continue his course on Sunday, despite heavy election losses in two states to far-right and far-left parties. Speaking at a Berlin crisis meeting of his center-right CDU, Merz emphasized the need for \"backbone, steadfastness and patience.\" The AfD had a narrow lead in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with about 37 percent, while the SPD secured 35 percent. In the ex-communist eastern German state of Brandenburg, Merz's CDU performed disastrously, receiving less than five percent of the vote, their worst result ever. In Berlin, the far-left Die Linke party, with roughly 25 percent, defeated the ruling CDU, which garnered 19 percent. Die Linke's lead candidate, Elif Eralp, celebrated her party's triumph over the anti-immigration AfD, saying \"love and justice have triumphed over hatred\" in her city. Merz, who called for a crisis meeting in anticipation of poor results, stressed that the reforms must come and that he is taking responsibility to move the country forward. He acknowledged that trust in institutions is waning and is being actively undermined by radical parties on both the left and the right. ING economist Carsten Brzeski stated that Merz's rushed TV address aimed to quash speculation about his possible resignation. The AfD's national co-leader, Alice Weidel, claimed that her party is the strongest force and has reached the mainstream of the population. Merz, who has faced record low personal approval ratings after 16 months in office, has been combating rumors of his possible ousting by his center-right CDU/CSU bloc. The latest elections followed a recent defeat of the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt by the far-right, pro-Trump and Moscow-friendly AfD. The elections coincided with a string of election setbacks for Merz as he struggled to push through promised economic and social welfare reforms with his center-left coalition partners, the SPD.",
  "summary": "BERLIN, Sept 21 — Germany’s embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to stay the course on Sunday des...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 10,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Financial Times",
        "title": "German chancellor Merz’s CDU party set to suffer heavy losses in regional elections",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/german-chancellor-merzs-cdu-party-set-to-suffer-heavy-losses-in",
        "published": "2026-09-20T16:24:45.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "PBS NewsHour",
        "title": "Merz vows to press ahead with reforms after party's historic defeat in 2 German state elections",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/merz-vows-to-press-ahead-with-reforms-after-partys-historic-defeat-in",
        "published": "2026-09-20T16:50:46.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Local Germany",
        "title": "'Disaster': Far-right and far-left gains in German state votes leaves Merz shaken",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/disaster-far-right-and-far-left-gains-in-german-state-votes-leaves",
        "published": "2026-09-20T17:27:20.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Arutz Sheva - Israel National News",
        "title": "Germany: AfD scores another victory as Merz suffers historic defeat",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/germany-afd-scores-another-victory-as-merz-suffers-historic-defeat",
        "published": "2026-09-20T17:39:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The New York Times",
        "title": "Germany’s Merz Vows to Stay After Another State Election ‘Disaster’",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/germanys-merz-vows-to-stay-after-another-state-election-disaster",
        "published": "2026-09-20T20:08:58.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Germany’s Merz vows to stay on course despite new election defeats",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/germanys-merz-vows-to-stay-on-course-despite-new-election-defeats",
        "published": "2026-09-20T21:08:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Germany's Merz vows to stay course despite new election defeats",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/germanys-merz-vows-to-stay-course-despite-new-election-defeats",
        "published": "2026-09-20T22:43:20.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "German Chancellor Merz under pressure after bruising state election losses",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/german-chancellor-merz-under-pressure-after-bruising-state-election",
        "published": "2026-09-21T02:57:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Politico EU",
        "title": "Merz’s election nightmare continues",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/merzs-election-nightmare-continues",
        "published": "2026-09-21T04:05:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}