The German political landscape was shaken on September 20, 2026, by regional elections that saw the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party, achieve a historic breakthrough, particularly in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. According to new exit polls, the AfD has become the leading political force in this northeastern state, "doubling its electoral result with 37.9 percent of the vote", a "historic" score for the far-right formation. This meteoric rise comes two weeks after a similar success in Saxony, where the party had already registered a "historic score". These results have highlighted the fragility of the ruling coalition and, more particularly, that of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). His party suffered a "major defeat", falling below "5.0 percent", a threshold...
There is a broad consensus within the West bloc, regardless of political orientation (popular, news magazine, center-left, liberal, neutral), that the AfD has made significant gains in the German regional elections and that this weakens Friedrich Merz and the ruling parties. The main nuance comes from DW.com (West/International/Liberal) which, while confirming the...
This synthesis compares media coverage and flags blind spots, biases and conflicts of interest around this topic.
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