🔸 Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, described the Christian Democratic Party’s defeat in local elections as a “disaster,” but said he has no intention of stepping down.

🔸 In the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won the most votes, and Merz’s party recorded one of the weakest results in its history.

🔸 This election win brought the AfD—an organization that supports Donald Trump and is close to Moscow—and which Germany’s domestic intelligence service has officially classified as “far right,” closer to forming its first state government.

🔸 These results have increased pressure on Merz, but he emphasized that his government will continue its program of economic, tax, and social reforms.