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🇩🇪 Germany /Elections & Politics

State Elections: Former Chancellor Merkel Shocked by AfD Success in Saxony-Anhalt

From Die Zeit · () German

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

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the AfD’s election success in Saxony-Anhalt shocking at a Deutsche Telekom digital conference.
  • Merkel said the CDU’s vote share in the state had been cut in half, describing the result as a major turning point in Germany’s history.
  • She urged democratic parties to engage voters more directly and explain political progress more clearly.

Angela Merkel said the AfD’s success in Saxony-Anhalt had deeply shaken her, describing the result as “simply shocking” at Deutsche Telekom’s Digital X conference.

Simply shocking.

· Angela MerkelMerkel described the AfD’s election success in Saxony-Anhalt at Deutsche Telekom’s Digital X conference.

The former chancellor and former CDU leader said her party had suffered a severe defeat in the state, where its share of the vote was cut in half. “As a CDU member, my heart bleeds,” Merkel said.

As a CDU member, my heart bleeds.

· Angela MerkelMerkel reacted to her party’s defeat and the halving of its vote share in the state.

She called the result “a turning point, a real turning point” in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Merkel argued that democratic parties must find a different way to communicate if they want to reach more people and explain their progress more effectively.

This is a turning point, a real turning point, that we are experiencing in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

· Angela MerkelShe characterized the election result as a major event in Germany’s political history.

In particular, she said direct, individual communication with citizens had probably become more important than in the past. Democratic parties now needed to seek closer contact with voters than they had previously, Merkel said.

Individual communication with citizens has probably become more important than before.

· Angela MerkelMerkel urged democratic parties to communicate more directly with voters.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. 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.

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