Germans vote in elections threatening fresh blow to Merz

Berlin – Germans began voting Sunday in two state elections where far-right and far-left gains could send new shock waves to Berlin and rock the government of embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Merz, 70, has scheduled a crisis meeting of his center-right CDU party leadership to discuss the first results as they come in from the regional polls in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The chancellor, in power for 16 months, has also cleared his calendar for the following days and skipped a trip to the U.N. General Assembly to deal with potential aftershocks from the votes.