It would not be “responsible” for the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to talk about “changing the Chancellor” just one day after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) swept to electoral victory in Saxony-Anhalt, CDU politician and German MP Günter Krings has told Euronews.
He says his party should focus its energy on addressing its “low” credibility, and also points the finger at the European Union, saying that “a significant part of the anger of the voters comes from the EU’s decisions”.
AfD won 43.8% of the vote in the eastern German state on Sunday, more than double its showing five years ago.
That was well ahead of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, which polled 17.2%, losing about half of its support. It’s putting mounting pressure on the Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose popularity has fallen to record low levels in opinion polls.