Friedrich Merz vows to keep German coalition together

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed on Monday to keep his ruling coalition together after crushing regional election defeats intensified speculation about his political future.

Merz said his government was determined to meet what he called Germany's historic responsibilities and said the issue was the country's “democratic future”. He leads a coalition of his centre-right CDU/CSU bloc and the centre-left SPD.

The far-right Alternative for Germany won in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday, while Merz's CDU fell to 4.9 percent, below the threshold to stay in the state parliament and its worst result since the party was formed in 1945. In Berlin, the far-left Die Linke beat the CDU and the AfD also made strong gains.

Merz rejected suggestions that his own low popularity was the main reason for the setbacks, saying the results reflected a wider transformation of party politics in Germany and other countries.

He addressed the nation on television shortly after exit polls were released on Sunday, calling the CDU result a “disaster” but saying he would stay the course. He also cleared his calendar and skipped a planned trip to New York for the UN General Assembly.

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, the SPD co-leader, said his party stood by the coalition but added that “things can't go on” as they had been and called for open debate inside the government on reforms.