2026 German government crisis

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The 2026 German government crisis (in German-language reporting Kanzlerkrise or Kanzlerdämmerung, lit. 'chancellor crisis') is a political crisis surrounding German chancellor Friedrich Merz, his Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and the grand coalition of the CDU/CSU (Union) parties and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that took office in May 2025. In July 2026, a personnel scandal involving Union parliamentary leader Jens Spahn and a poorly received cabinet reshuffle produced the first open talk of replacing Merz only 14 months into his chancellorship. The second and more severe phase followed the 2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election on 6 September, in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 43.8% of the party-list vote—the strongest result for any party in the state since German reunification—while the CDU fell to 17.2%, its worst result there since the state was reconstituted, and lost every constituency seat. By September 2026, Merz's personal approval ratings...

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