Merz responds to far-right victory: “It will have consequences, but giving up is not an option”

Friedrich Merz responded to the AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt with a warning and a refusal to retreat. “It will have consequences, but giving up is not an option,” the German chancellor said after the far-right party's election success dealt a heavy blow to his CDU.

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It will have consequences, but giving up is not an option.

Merz described the result as a shock for himself, his party and Germany as a whole. He said it would not be possible to simply return to business as usual. Yet he insisted that the conservative and social democratic coalition remained solid and that he would continue governing and pursuing reforms without interruption.

The chancellor acknowledged that the government had failed to show enough empathy for voters' concerns. He promised to explain its structural reforms more effectively, saying it was not enough to justify them in mathematical or economic terms. Merz also said his own persona had become an issue in the campaign.

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It is not possible simply to return to the order of the day without more.

Sven Schulze, the defeated CDU candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, conceded that the AfD had a mandate to govern, although it fell three seats short of an absolute majority in the state parliament. He said the CDU would not cooperate with the AfD and would move into opposition.

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We have to do more than justify the reforms mathematically and economically; we have to explain them better.

AfD victor Ulrich Siegmund said some conservatives understood his party's positions and that he expected talks with them. He expressed confidence that individual CDU lawmakers might support a future AfD government. Merz stressed that Germany's history gave it a particular responsibility and said he would defend the Constitution and the country's strong ties with Europe if the AfD eventually took power in the state.

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The AfD has a mandate to govern.