Merz clings on after German election 'disaster'

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Hours after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took first place in state elections in northeastern Germany, people on the streets of Schwerin on Monday (September 21) expressed disappointment and shock over the result.

Sunday's (September 20) result has given the AfD its second top-place finish this month at the state level. The party leads in national opinion polls but has been kept from power by the other main parties' refusal to work with it.

The elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a largely rural state in the formerly communist east, and Berlin follow the September 6 election in Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD came close to the rare feat of winning an absolute majority.

In just over a decade, the party — which wants to take tough action to deport foreigners with no right to stay in Germany, restore energy ties with Russia and quit the euro — has transformed itself from a fringe eurosceptic movement to the country's most popular party.

(4182-GERMANY-ELECTION/MECKLENBURG-WESTERN POMERANIA-REAX)

SCHWERIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 21, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. MAN CARRYING LADDER STANDING IN STREET, WAITING FOR STREET CAR TO PASS

2. PEDESTRIANS IN STREET

3. VARIOUS OF ELECTION POSTER OF FAR-RIGHT AFD HANGING ON LAMPPOST ABOVE POSTER OF INCUMBENT SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (SPD) MECKLENBURG-WESTERN POMERANIA STATE PREMIER, MANUELA SCHWESIG

4. NEWSPAPERS DISPLAYED ON BENCH

5. NATIONAL DAILY “SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG” HEADLINE READING IN GERMAN “HEAVY LOSSES FOR THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS" (CDU) / MASS DAILY “BILD” HEADLINE READING “SHIFT TO THE LEFT IN BERLIN / AFD BEATS SCHWESIG”

6. (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, DETLEF SPELKER, SAYING:

"I would have imagined a different outcome as well because, let's say, the troublemakers who voted for the AfD clearly weren't paying attention in history class. We've been in a similar situation before, almost 100 years ago. Inflation, problems with jobs, nobody had any money. We'll see what this brings now. I don't know whether they'll deliver."

7. (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, RAINER (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), SAYING:

“I think it's very unfortunate and, frankly, not really good for our democracy. But that's how the voters decided. And it's the same with the AfD: that's what the voters decided as well and now we have to accept that."

A day after regional elections in Germany on September 20, staff at the "Alan" barbershop in the northeastern city of Rostock expressed a mix of concern and resilience amid a changing political landscape.

Mahmoud Hmouech, a 47-year-old Syrian barber and former elementary school teacher, voiced worries about growing social tensions following the vote.

(4183-GERMANY-ELECTION/MECKLENBURG-WESTERN POMERANIA)

ROSTOCK, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 21, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

8. VARIOUS OF BARBERSHOP “ALAN”

9. VARIOUS OF 50-YEAR-OLD KURDISH BARBER MAHIR AL-DALAWI, A FORMER POLICEMAN IN POST-SADDAM HUSSEIN GOVERNMENT AND ORIGINALLY FROM NORTHERN IRAQ WHO RECEIVED GERMAN CITIZENSHIP IN MARCH, CUTTING CUSTOMER’S HAIR

10. AL-DALAWI AND 47-YEAR-OLD SYRIAN BARBER MAHMOUD HMOUECH, A FORMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER FOR MATHS AND ARABIC, TALKING

11. (SOUNDBITE) (German) BARBER MAHMOUD HMOUECH, SAYING:

“I discussed the (election) results with my wife. For Rostock it is okay. But I fear more racist insults for my wife and my children if they are out on their own.”

12. (SOUNDBITE) (German) BARBER MAHIR AL-DALAWI, SAYING:

“For now it is okay. Let’s hope it stays this way. The election result is okay.”

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) said on September 21 that Chancellor Friedrich Merz will no longer be in his job by the end of the year after his conservative CDU failed to pass the 5% threshold in state elections in northeastern Germany over the weekend.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said, “The CDU will never again, never again in its party's history, win a national election.”

(4185-GERMANY-ELECTION/AFD)

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 21, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

13. AFD CANDIDATE FOR MECKLENBURG-WESTERN POMERANIA STATE PREMIER, LEIF-ERIK HOLM, AFD CANDIDATE FOR BERLIN MAYOR AND STATE PREMIER, KRISTIN BRINKER AND AFD CO-LEADERS ALICE WEIDEL AND TINO CHRUPALLA POSING FOR CAMERAS

14. MAN IN AUDIENCE FILMING PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MOBILE PHONE

15. HOLM LISTENING TO REPORTER’S QUESTION

16. REPORTERS

17. (SOUNDBITE) (German) AFD CO-LEADER, ALICE WEIDEL, SAYING:

“The CDU will never again, never again in its party's history, win a national election. As you know, I've been saying this publicly for years: You don't have to be particularly intelligent to foresee it.”

Merz said on September 21 the heavy losses of his conservative CDU in state elections were “dramatic” and unprecedented after the far-right AfD came in first in north-eastern Germany while the CDU failed to reach the 5% threshold.

Merz also told reporters at the CDU’s headquarters that he was deeply concerned about what he said was a "growing, radical and openly expressed antisemitism that is even being welcomed here with applause,” especially in the capital Berlin.

(4187-GERMANY-ELECTION/CDU MERZ)

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 21, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

18. GERMAN CHANCELLOR FRIEDRICH MERZ AND BERLIN CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR AND STATE PREMIER, STEFAN EVERS, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE

19. MERZ SMILING

20. MEDIA

21. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, SAYING:

"This election marks a profound watershed. For the CDU in Germany, it is a dramatic, unprecedented result that we failed to clear the 5% threshold and that an entire state parliamentary group will be leaving the state legislature. This is a heavy blow.”

22. REPORTERS SEATED

23. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, SAYING:

"This is a disgrace for Germany and I will do everything in my power to get it under control and push it back.”

In the state election in the German capital Berlin that took place on September 20, the far-left Linke won with 25.7%.

It is the first time the Linke has topped polls in the state, where it wants to nationalise housing from corporate landlords and cap rents. It would need partners to take control of the mayor's office in the German capital for the first time since reunification in 1990. Elif Eralp is the party's Berlin candidate who brought the election home.

(4180-GERMANY-ELECTION/BERLIN-LEFT ERALP PROFILE)

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 20, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

24. 'DIE LINKE' (LEFT PARTY) LEADING CANDIDATE, ELIF ERALP ON STAGE CELEBRATING AFTER WINNING BERLIN ELECTION

25. CLOSE OF ERALP'S FACE WHILE ON STAGE

26. SUPPORTERS HOLDING SIGNS READING (German): “Stop rent rip-offs”

27. (SOUNDBITE) (German) LINKE LEADING CANDIDATE IN BERLIN STATE ELECTIONS, ELIF ERALP, SAYING:

"In our city, love and justice won over hate and today we showed that together and sent this signal out into the world."

Germany's DAX rose 0.76%, with investors digesting the results of state elections in northeastern Germany, where projections showed the far-right Alternative for Germany emerging as the largest party.

(4184-EUROPE-STOCKS/)

FRANKFURT, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 21, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

28. TRADING FLOOR WITH DAX BOARD

29. CLOSE-UP OF DAX GRAPH AT AROUND 25510 POINTS

30. TRADERS

31. LOGO READING (German): "Deutsche Börse"

32. TRADING FLOOR

33. (SOUNDBITE) (German) TRADER AT STEUBING AG, TIM OECHSNER, SAYING:

"Another important factor on the stock market this morning is the outcome of the election in Berlin. Die Linke won the election accordingly, and on their agenda is the expropriation of certain residential real estate companies. Investors are looking specifically at Vonovia this morning. However, the share is barely reacting, as there are in principle major judicial and legal hurdles in the way that make expropriation almost impossible."

The Kremlin said on September 21 that the far-right Alternative for Germany's (AfD) first place in a state election in northeastern Germany was in large part due to Berlin no longer buying cheap Russian gas and choosing to buy expensive US energy instead.

Two people familiar with the plan said last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin's top economic envoy and leaders of Germany's far-right AfD had begun preparations to meet next year to discuss restarting gas supplies to Europe's biggest economy, even though the AfD is not in power nationally.

The AfD and a representative of the envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, declined to comment.

Germany has struggled to recover ⁠from the shock caused by the shutdown of the undersea Nord Stream pipelines from Russia, which were rendered inoperative by explosions in September 2022.

(4239-GERMANY-ELECTION/KREMLIN)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 15, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

34. VARIOUS OF KREMLIN VIEWS

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 21, 2026) (KREMLIN.RU - Access all)

35. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KREMLIN SPOKESMAN, DMITRY PESKOV, SAYING:

"We also observe that the decline in the German economy's competitiveness is largely due to the fact that Germany has stopped purchasing cheap Russian gas and has switched to buying very expensive gas - sometimes costing several times more - on the spot market from other countries, primarily the United States. Naturally, Germans, or at least a portion of them, are seeking an alternative to the current leadership in order to improve their situation. This is a natural process."

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 15, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

36. VARIOUS OF KREMLIN VIEWS