We and our partners do the following data processing based on your consent: store and/or access information on a device, personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development Germany's Merz vows to hold ruling coalition together election gains by far right, hard left German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed Monday to keep his ruling coalition of the centre-right CDU and centre-left SPD together for the sake of the country's "democratic future", after both the far right and hard left made big gains in Germany's state elections on Sunday. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading.
To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: Friedrich Merz at a press conference in Berlin on September 21, 2026, the day after the regional elections. © Fabrizio Bensch, Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed Monday to keep his ruling coalition together for the sake of Germany's "democratic future" after crushing defeats in two regional elections fuelled speculation about his future. "We are determined to live up to the historic responsibilities our country is facing," said Merz about the coalition between his centre-right CDU and the centre-left SPD.
"It is about nothing less, and nothing more, than the democratic future of our country." Read morePressure grows on Germany's Merz after election defeats The SPD also vowed to remain in the coalition despite the centre-right party suffering heavy losses in Sunday's votes, while hinting it would push for changes to planned reforms. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the CDU crashed out of the local parliament after its worst ever election result since the party's founding in 1945. Merz described the result as a "heavy blow", adding: "This election is a profound turning point.
It is a dramatic, unprecedented result for the CDU in Germany." To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. In the other vote, in the city-state of Berlin, the CDU was pushed into second place by the hard-left Die Linke party while the AfD also made strong gains. Despite calls for him to step down from the AfD after just 16 months in office, Merz repeated he would remain in office and seek to push through hard-fought economic and social welfare reforms.
"But we know that we owe people answers to their worries, to their fears," he said. Merz pushed back at criticism that his own low popularity ratings were behind the election defeats. "The reasons for these election results go far beyond my own person," he said.
"We are witnessing a profound transformation of the political party system in Germany as well as in many other countries around the world." Five takeaways from Germany's regional elections after far-right gains Perspective## Sorbonne Professor Hans Stark: 'Merz is in a very, very fragile situation' 1. 1 ## Saudi Arabia says air defences intercepted Houthi ballistic missile targeting Riyadh Middle East 2. 2 ## French police arrest two Germans after 'for fun' Louvre stunt in Mona Lisa hall France 3. 3 ## Macron welcomes Carney on French North Atlantic territory off Canadian coast France 4. 4 ## France's new head coach Zidane unveils team line-up for Nations League matches Sport 5. 5 ## Scientists discover first new wild cat in more than 100 years Americas 6. 6 ## Russia vows to ‘intensify’ strikes on Kyiv after Ukraine’s election-day drone attacks As it happened Europe © 2026 Copyright France 24 - All rights reserved. France 24 is not responsible for the content of external websites. Audience ratings certified by ACPM.ACPM The content you requested does not exist or is not available anymore.
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