A Far-Right Win Puts New Pressure On Germany’s Leader

“A far-right electoral victory in a small eastern state has plunged Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, into a fight for his political survival with no surefire paths to prevail,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Merz was not on the ballot in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, won nearly 44 percent of the vote and now sits on the cusp of becoming the first far-right party to govern a German state since the end of World War II. But Mr. Merz, a mainstream conservative, was very much on voters’ minds, post-election analyses show — and not fondly.”

“Now, with two more key regional elections set for this month — in Berlin and in the coastal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania — Mr. Merz is struggling to reassure restless party stalwarts that he remains the leader that they and Germany need.”

For members: Germany Takes a Hard Right Turn