Overview
- Eight CDU minister‑presidents, which issued a joint statement on Wednesday, pledged to work with the chancellor, urged an end to public personnel debates and rejected plans to seek a minority federal government.
- A ZDF Politbarometer projection published three days before the vote showed the SPD at 37 percent, the AfD at 36 percent and the CDU at about six percent in Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern, putting the CDU at risk of falling below the parliamentary threshold.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the ministers' backing after cancelling a planned trip to New York, and CDU General Secretary Franziska Hoppermann publicly defended his continued leadership.
- Journalists and commentators warned the ministers' letter may provide only a short reprieve and said election results could quickly reopen a debate about Merz's future and the coalition's cohesion.
- The federal government continued to press policy work during the crisis, with ministers unveiling a ten‑point plan to toughen penalties for Islamist terrorism while municipalities and business groups urged rapid delivery on promised reforms.