The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered very poor results in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, plunging the Merz government into crisis.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) took 38.2% in the rural northeastern state and 16.3% in the capital, where the far-left Die Linke came first with 25.7%. Merz conceded the night spelled a disaster for the political centre and promised to push ahead with his federal agenda.