Under Pressure

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will huddle Monday with his CDU party to discuss their thumping defeat at the hands of the far-right AfD party in a state election in the ex-communist east. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany scored its biggest win yet Sunday with 44 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, against about 18 percent for the centre-right CDU.

The ballot box triumph put the pro-Trump and Moscow-friendly AfD, officially listed as "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, within reach of running its first-ever state government. "For the first time since the end of World War II, the AfD, a party whose state branch is classified as right-wing extremist, is close to securing an absolute majority," said Daniel Guenther, the CDU premier of Schleswig-Holstein state. "This is a shocking moment for our country."

AfD winner mocks Merz

The AfD's triumphant lead candidate, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, took pleasure in mocking 70-year-old Merz, calling him "a very good campaigner" for the AfD. Siegmund said his party had "made history" and that voters had sent "a signal to Berlin". Every day with Merz in the chancellery was "one day too many", he added.

According to projections by German public broadcasters, the AfD fell just three seats short of an absolute majority of 42 seats in the regional parliament. AfD national co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla urged the state branch to seek to take over the government, viewing it as a blueprint for national elections in 2029.