German Chancellor Merz vows to stay in office, push reforms despite election shock

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed Sunday to stay in office and press ahead with reforms after his conservative CDU suffered a crushing defeat in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Speaking at CDU headquarters in Berlin shortly after projections by public broadcaster ARD, Merz acknowledged heavy losses but pushed back against speculation that he would step down as party leader and chancellor.

“We cannot play down the result in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; it is a disaster. The CDU fought hard, but ultimately, the party was ground down by the intense polarization between the SPD and the AfD,” he said.

An ARD projection put the anti-immigrant AfD at 37.3% in the northeastern state, just ahead of the center-left SPD at 35.5%. Chancellor Merz’s CDU slumped to 5.3%, its worst result in any state election since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded, putting its return to the state parliament at risk.

Merz said Germany needs serious reforms to get the country back on track, and argued that his coalition government has already undertaken serious efforts to do so.

“What now needs to be done requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience. I will demonstrate these qualities as chairman of the CDU and, above all, as chancellor of our country,” he said.