German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has suffered a heavy political setback following two state elections on Sunday, including a record defeat for his party, but he has pledged to push ahead with difficult reforms to Europe’s largest economy.
Exit polls released by public broadcaster ARD showed Merz’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, securing just 5 per cent of the vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the lowest score recorded by the party in any state since the Second World War.