German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vows to maintain coalition after state election defeats

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he will keep his ruling coalition together for the sake of his country's "democratic future", following resounding defeats for his party in two state elections.

"We are determined to live up to the historic challenges our country is facing," Merz said, referring to the coalition between his Christian Democratic Unionist (CDU) party and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Merz's position has come under mounting pressure after Sunday's election results. In the north-eastern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won the most votes, with the CDU failing to reach the threshold to even enter the state parliament.

Meanwhile in Berlin, the CDU came second to the hard-left Die Linke party, with the AfD also making significant gains.

Speaking at the news conference on Monday, Merz described the result in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as "a heavy blow".

"This election is a profound turning point. It is a dramatic, unprecedented result for the CDU in Germany," he said.

He however pushed back against the idea that his low popularity ratings were behind the election defeats.

"The reasons for these election results go far beyond my own person," he insisted.

Merz is under mounting pressure after months of poor approval ratings, and there have been rumours he could be replaced mid-term in a so-called chancellor swap.

Asked earlier on Monday how long Merz has left in office, the AfD's co-leader Alice Weidel told the BBC: "Pretty soon, he's going to leave."

The two local elections took place on Sunday, a fortnight after the CDU saw its vote halved in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD won a major victory.