2026-09-20T14:26:21-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
德国总理弗里德里希·默茨周日态度依旧强硬，誓言要推进对欧洲最大经济体可能造成痛苦的改革，此前他在两场州选举中遭遇了惨重的选举挫折。
公共广播公司ARD的出口民调显示，默茨领导的中右翼基督教民主联盟（基民盟）在梅克伦堡-前波美拉尼亚州仅获得5%的支持率——这是该党二战以来在任何州选举中的最低得票率。与此同时，极右翼反移民的选择党（AfD）取得了显著进展。
默茨承认此次选举结果是一场“灾难”，但表示他仍将推进本届政府的改革议程。他辩称，德国的经济和政治问题使得艰难且可能不受欢迎的改革变得更加紧迫，而非相反，并誓言将继续推进改革。
2026年9月20日，在柏林和梅克伦堡-前波美拉尼亚州选举结束后，德国总理弗里德里希·默茨在康拉德·阿登纳大楼发表讲话。迈克尔·卡佩勒/图片联盟通过盖蒂图片社拍摄
“现在需要做的事情需要骨气、坚定和耐心，”默茨在公共电视台公布出口民调后不久的一份声明中说道。“作为基民盟主席，尤其是作为我国总理，我将展现这些品质。”
根据ARD的出口民调，在柏林，基民盟预计以20%的得票率位居第二，落后于获得24.5%支持率的左翼党（Die Linke）。
“在我们这座城市，爱与正义战胜了仇恨，”左翼党柏林市长候选人、土耳其移民后裔埃利夫·埃拉尔普在庆祝该党击败选择党时说道。
默茨的权威本已因基民盟在9月6日东部小州萨克森-安哈尔特州的选举中惨败给选择党而受损。那次结果令许多德国人感到震惊，他们曾认为，通过教育和立法取缔迫害的方式直面纳粹历史的恐怖之后，德国已经对民族主义和种族优越论言论产生了免疫力。
周日，选择党预计在两个州都取得重大进展。根据ARD的数据，选择党在梅克伦堡-前波美拉尼亚州获得了37%的选票，在柏林则获得了15.7%的支持率。但该党远未具备组建地区政府的条件。
2026年9月20日，左翼党柏林市长候选人埃利夫·埃拉尔普在德国柏林卡尔-李卜克内西大楼的党总部与支持者一同庆祝。哈利勒·萨吉尔卡亚/阿纳多卢通讯社通过盖蒂图片社拍摄
选择党全国联合主席蒂诺·克鲁帕拉在接受ZDF电视台采访时表示：“总理今天的表态实在太过软弱——他宣布将一如既往地继续执政，而非最终吸取教训并辞职。”
不过，默茨似乎是在影射这个极右翼政党，他表示本国政府的改革将是“威权主义毒素的解药”，随着人们对威权主义的迷恋日益加深，这种毒素正越来越深地渗透到德国社会。
基民盟在战后绝大多数时间里断断续续地执掌德国政府。
现年70岁的默茨16个月前出任德国总理，承诺要扭转多年来几乎没有增长的经济。但他的政府正疲于应对疲软的经济，许多原本希望这位前企业高管能够解决经济问题的选民，对财政和税收改革的实施拖延感到失望。
尽管德国经济再次出现温和增长，但劳动力市场去年出现恶化。联邦就业局的数据显示，8月份失业人数超过300万，较前一年增加了3.6万。劳动力需求依然疲软。
选择党在萨克森-安哈尔特州选举中表现强劲，该党有望组建二战以来德国首个极右翼地区政府，这进一步削弱了默茨在全国层面的声望。
过去两周来，甚至有来自他所在政党内部的呼声要求替换他总理一职，尽管没有高层盟友公开呼吁他辞职，且许多人警告要避免“人事争论”。
显然是预见到选举后将面临艰难局面，默茨取消了原计划于下周前往纽约出席联合国大会的行程。尽管面临重重逆风，他多次表示决心留任并完成总理任期。
Germany’s Merz defiant after historic state elections defeat, vows to press ahead with reforms
2026-09-20T14:26:21-0400 / CBS/AP
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz remained defiant on Sunday, vowing to press ahead with potentially painful reforms to Europe’s biggest economy, after suffering a bruising electoral setback in two state elections.
Exit polls by public broadcaster ARD indicated that Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, came in with just 5% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – the lowest result ever since World War II for the party in any state. Meanwhile, the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party made significant gains.
Merz acknowledged that the result was a “disaster” but said he would still move ahead with his government’s reform agenda. He argued that Germany’s economic and political problems made difficult and potentially unpopular reforms more urgent, not less so, and pledged to press ahead.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the Konrad Adenauer House following the elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany on Sept. 20, 2026. Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images
“What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience,” Merz said in a statement shortly after the exit polls were announced on public television. “I will demonstrate these qualities as chairman of the CDU and, above all, as chancellor of our country.”
In Berlin, the CDU was projected to come in second with 20%, behind Die Linke (The Left Party) at 24.5%, according to ARD’s exit poll.
“In our city, love and justice have triumphed over hatred,” said Die Linke’s lead candidate Elif Eralp, the daughter of Turkish migrants, celebrating her party’s triumph over AfD.
Merz’s authority was already damaged by the CDU’s stinging defeat to AfD in the Sept. 6 election in the small eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. That result shocked many Germans who had believed their country had developed an immunity to nationalism and assertions of racial superiority after confronting the horrors of its Nazi past through education and laws to outlaw persecution.
On Sunday, AfD was projected to make big gains in both states. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, it garnered 37% of the vote, and in Berlin it achieved 15.7%, according to ARD. But it was nowhere close to being able to form a regional government.
Die Linke (The Left Party) lead candidate for Berlin Governing Mayor Elif Eralp celebrates with party supporters at the party headquarters, Karl-Liebknecht-Haus, in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 20, 2026. Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images
AfD’s national co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, told ZDF television that “the chancellor’s statement today really was more than feeble — he announced that he’d carry on as before, instead of finally drawing the consequences and resigning.”
However, in an apparent reference to the far-right party, Merz said that his government’s reforms would be “the antidote to the poison of authoritarianism, which is penetrating ever deeper into our society as the fascination with authoritarianism grows.”
The CDU has run Germany’s government off and on for the vast majority of its post-World War II history.
Merz, 70, became Germany’s leader 16 months ago with promises to turn around an economy that has barely grown in years. But his government is grappling with a weak economy, and many voters who had hoped the former corporate executive would fix that have become disillusioned with delays in implementing financial and tax reforms.
While Germany is again seeing moderate growth, the labor market deteriorated last year. In August, more than 3 million people were unemployed, an increase of 36,000 from the previous year. Demand for labor remains weak, according to the Federal Employment Agency.
The strong showing of AfD in the Saxony-Anhalt election, where it has the best chance yet of forming the country’s first far-right regional government since World War II, has further weakened the chancellor’s standing on the national level as well.
In the past two weeks, there have been calls, even from within his own party, for him to be replaced as chancellor, although no top-level allies have called publicly for his departure, and many have warned against “personnel debates.”
Apparently anticipating a tough post-election period, Merz abandoned a planned trip to New York next week to attend the U.N. General Assembly. Despite the strong headwinds, he has repeatedly said that he’s determined to stay on and finish his term as chancellor.
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