German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will huddle with his CDU party on Monday to discuss and digest their thumping defeat at the hands of the far-right AfD party in a state election in the ex-communist east.
The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) scored its biggest win yet on Sunday with 44% of the vote in the Saxony-Anhalt, against around 18% for the centre-right CDU, according to broadcasters' projections.