German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to remain in office and continue his government's reform agenda despite a crushing election defeat for his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Saxony-Anhalt, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) scored nearly 44% of the vote. The result has plunged Germany's governing conservatives into their deepest political crisis yet, just 16 months into Merz's chancellorship.

The German chancellor rules out working with the AfD even though he concedes its win in Saxony-Anhalt has upset his party’s foundations.

Merz’s CDU suffers historic defeat as AfD falls short of outright majority