Germany's far-right AfD makes gains, challenging Chancellor Merz

Last updated 9/21/2026

On September 20, 2026, Germany was the scene of two regional elections with mixed results, but which collectively inflicted a significant setback on Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU party. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) won the regional elections, recording its second Land victory in just two weeks. The AfD obtained approximately 38.2% of the votes, placing ahead of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which garnered 35.5%. Simultaneously, Friedrich Merz's CDU suffered a historic defeat, failing to reach the 5% threshold required to enter the regional parliament, with only 4.9% of the votes, compared to 13.3% in the previous election in 2021. This result is the worst ever recorded for the party in its 81-year history, according to alquds.co.uk and hln.be. Simultaneously,...

There is a strong consensus, including across blocs, on the progression of the AfD and the electoral setback suffered by Chancellor Merz and his party (CDU). Sources from the Western bloc, regardless of their orientation, as well as those from the East/South and Dissident, confirm the electoral results and their consequences for the ruling party. The main nuance comes from more oriented sources that...

This synthesis compares media coverage and flags blind spots, biases and conflicts of interest around this topic.

Read the full synthesis