DistantNews
Support us
🇫🇷 France /Elections & Politics

AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt leaves Chancellor Merz “deeply shocked” by far-right surge

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Outcome reported
  • The Alternative for Germany won nearly 44% in Saxony-Anhalt, compared with 17% for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU, according to the report.
  • Merz said he was “deeply shocked” by the far-right party’s historic victory in the eastern German state.
  • He accepted responsibility for the defeat and vowed to continue his reform agenda while explaining it more effectively.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “deeply shocked” after the Alternative for Germany won a historic victory in a regional election in Saxony-Anhalt. The result dealt a heavy blow to his conservative CDU.

The AfD, described in the report as an anti-immigration and pro-Russian party, took nearly 44% of the vote in the former East German state. Merz’s CDU received 17%.

Deeply shocked.

· Friedrich MerzThe German chancellor described his reaction to the AfD’s historic regional election victory.

Speaking after a meeting of the CDU leadership on September 7, Merz said he remained determined to pursue his reforms without changing course. He also acknowledged that his government needed to explain them better.

“ My determination is to pursue the course of reforms without a break, but I know that we must explain them better,” Merz said. He accepted responsibility for the defeat and said the AfD’s electoral rise was changing the political situation across Germany.

My determination is to pursue the course of reforms without a break, but I know that we must explain them better.

· Friedrich MerzHe addressed the CDU leadership after acknowledging responsibility for the election defeat.
About this summary

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog