Henning Hoff

Germany’s far right has had another strong showing in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with the chancellor’s CDU failing to enter the parliament. Without a challenger ready to pounce, however, Merz is likely to stay in office—for now.

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has won big in the small federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, but not big enough for an outright majority. Still, the result may well trigger changes at the national level.

An amateurish government reshuffle has gone badly wrong for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. With the far-right AfD likely surging in regional elections, the end of his chancellorship may come more quickly than expected.

One year into an unprecedented, debt-financed rearmament program to catch up after decades of neglect, some warn that Berlin’s military build-up poses a new German question. That’s not the case.

Despite Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his government’s claims of a brand-new German foreign policy, there has really been more continuity than change. What Berlin needs to achieve is nothing less than a major strategy for protecting Europe’s security. 

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’ center-right Christian Democrats have had a mixed start to this year’s five federal state elections. But these outcomes are less worrying for the chancellor than the state of his coalition partner, the Social Democrats.