Good morning, readers. Angela Skujins here holding the pen for this week’s newsletter, where a seismic regional election in Germany’s east has seen the far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) sweep to power, with the blow ricocheting as far as Berlin. #EuropeToday

A large AfD victory would pile more pressure onto Merz and his increasingly unpopular coalition. The party has been polling at more than 40%. #EuropeNews

While short of an overall majority, the AfD won 44% of the vote and delivered a drubbing to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives, reflecting the deep unpopularity of…