Merz Warns Political Fringes Risk Sending Germany 'Into the Abyss', Vows to Block AfD From Regional Power

Facing record-low personal approval and an AfD polling as high as 37–40% in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ahead of their September 2026 elections, Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a public plea for Germany's political center, warning that the rise of fringe parties — chiefly the far-right AfD — risked sending the country 'into the abyss.' Merz reiterated his categorical refusal to let the AfD enter government at any level, stating 'if a right-wing radical party were to enter government in Germany, it would carry a completely different significance' than elsewhere, and 'I will do everything in my power to prevent it.' The comments extended a line Merz had taken since a June 2 speech invoking Germany's Nazi past to justify the 'firewall' barring cooperation with the far right, after critics accused him of eroding that convention during the 2025 campaign. The renewed warning came days after his coalition's reform package launch and amid criticism from allies that Merz himself, weakened by the worst chancellor approval ratings on record, was becoming a liability to the anti-AfD strategy he was championing.