MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
To Germany now, where Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz is under pressure following elections in his country over the weekend. His conservative party suffered crushing defeats in two regional votes, losing to the far right in one state and to the far left in another. Merz says he is not going anywhere. Esme Nicholson reports.
ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: Last night, Friedrich Merz should've been on his way to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Instead, he was at his Christian Democrat party's headquarters in Berlin, where he broke the stunned silence as exit polls showed the CDU's worst election results since World War II.
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CHANCELLOR FRIEDERICH MERZ: (Speaking German).
NICHOLSON: "Trust in state institutions is declining, and radical parties on both the left and the right are exploiting this," Merz said. Sudha David-Wilp of the German Marshall Fund says while there is talk of replacing him, Merz will counter any political reckoning with characteristic intransigence.
SUDHA DAVID-WILP: Merz himself has wanted to be chancellor for so long that he is probably loath to throw in the towel. And he also knows the bar is very high to oust a chancellor in Germany.
NICHOLSON: Speaking to public broadcaster ARD, federal leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany - or AfD - Alice Weidel says the more Merz digs in his heels, the more her party profits while his sinks.
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ALICE WEIDEL: (Speaking German).
NICHOLSON: "Friedrich Merz is the wrong chancellor for the CDU and he is dragging the party down with him," she says. While the far-right AfD is the clear election winner in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in Berlin, the far-left party, Die Linke, brought home its best-ever result. Its leader, Elif Eralp, pledges to make Berlin affordable again.
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NICHOLSON: Eralp made it clear that Berliners will not tolerate the AfD's racist policies.
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ELIF ERALP: (Speaking German).
NICHOLSON: "In our city, love and justice have triumphed over hate," she said. For Eralp to take office as mayor, she needs to form a government with at least two other parties. Friedrich Merz is finding that kind of consensus difficult with just one coalition partner.
For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.
(SOUNDBITE OF RED HOUSE PAINTERS SONG, "CRUISER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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