PoliticsGermany’s CDU suffers state election losses as Merz calls results a ‘disaster’

Germany’s governing CDU has suffered major losses in state elections, leading Chancellor Friedrich Merz to call the outcome a “disaster” and a “turning point”. Merz accepted personal responsibility and said Germany was undergoing a “profound transformation” of its party system. The report examines pressure from the far-right AfD in eastern Germany and the far-left Linke in Berlin, and whether the trend could reach western states.