Merz vows to keep ruling coalition together for 'democratic future' of Germany

Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed Monday to keep his ruling coalition together for the sake of Germany's "democratic future" after crushing defeats in two regional elections fuelled speculation about his future.

"We are determined to live up to the historic responsibilities our country is facing," said Merz about the coalition between his centre-right CDU and the centre-left SPD.

"It is about nothing less, and nothing more, than the democratic future of our country."

The SPD also vowed to remain in the coalition despite the centre-right party suffering heavy losses in Sunday's votes, while hinting it would push for changes to planned reforms.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the CDU crashed out of the local parliament after its worst ever election result since the party's founding in 1945.

Merz described the result as a "heavy blow", adding: "This election is a profound turning point. It is a dramatic, unprecedented result for the CDU in Germany."

In the other vote, in the city-state of Berlin, the CDU was pushed into second place by the far-left Die Linke party while the AfD also made strong gains.

Despite calls for him to step down from the AfD after just 16 months in office, Merz repeated he would remain in office and seek to push through hard-fought economic and social welfare reforms.

"But we know that we owe people answers to their worries, to their fears," he said.

Merz pushed back at criticism that his own low popularity ratings were behind the election defeats.

"The reasons for these election results go far beyond my own person," he said.

"We are witnessing a profound transformation of the political party system in Germany as well as in many other countries around the world."