Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party scored a commanding first-place finish in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerani...

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party scored a commanding first-place finish in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday, pulling 37% of the vote according to ARD exit polls, more than doubling its previous result. The social democrats came in second at 35.5%, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU collapsed to just 5.5%, its worst showing in the state since German reunification in 1990. Whether CDU even clears the 5% threshold to enter the regional parliament remains unclear. In Berlin, the left-wing Die Linke won the city-state election with 24.5%, a gain of over 12 points, running on a platform centered on the housing crisis and blocking the far right. CDU finished second at 20%, down more than 8 points, with AfD at 16% and the Greens at 15%. Merz did not sugarcoat the results. Speaking to reporters after the returns came in, he called the Mecklenburg outcome a disaster and said there was no way to dress it up. He insisted that reforms were the only answer, and described them as the antidote to what he called authoritarian poison, a clear reference to the AfD surge. AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla declared his party had a clear mandate to govern in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and said he would seek talks with all parties. That path, however, runs straight into the so-called firewall maintained by Germany's mainstream parties, all of which refuse to enter coalition with AfD. Despite winning the most votes, the party has no obvious coalition partner and is unlikely to form a government. The results come two weeks after AfD's strong performance in Saxony-Anhalt, deepening questions about Merz's grip on the political center as the CDU faces pressure from both ends of the spectrum. #Germany #AfD #GermanElections