Good morning and welcome to our Europe live blog, where we’ll start in Germany after a bruising night for Friedrich Merz’s party.
The German chancellor is staring down pressure over his leadership and authority after the CDU suffered heavy losses in two regional elections. For the first time in 77 years, it’s failed to enter a state parliament, in the former East German state of Mecklenburg- Vorpommern. This was the home state of former CDU chancellor Angela Merkel; the party there last night pulled just 4. 9% of the vote, losing more than half of its support.
Many of its voters have flocked to Alternative for Germany (AfD). The far-right, anti-migrant party gained 38% of the vote, doubling its share to now become the largest party in the state. This result comes just a fortnight after AfD romped to a majority in Saxony-Anhalt. Merz called it a “disaster” last night in a public address, but vowed to stay the course and press on with his government’s reforms.