BERLIN, March 9 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz repeated on Monday his conservatives would not cooperate with the far-right Alternative for Germany party following the close result in the
Germany's Merz says state election will not impact his coalition
Analysis of the Baden-Wuerttemberg State Election and Its Implications
BERLIN, March 9 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday's election in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg was a "bitter" result for his conservatives but would not affect the government in Berlin as he again ruled out cooperating with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Election Results and Coalition Prospects
The preliminary official result of the vote saw the environmental Greens marginally ahead of Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU), leaving the two parties poised to continue the coalition that has run Baden-Wuerttemberg for the past decade.
Rejection of AfD Cooperation
The Chancellor repeated his rejection of cooperating with the AfD, which finished in third place, confirming its position as Germany's largest opposition party, even outside its heartland in the eastern states.
Key Factors Influencing the Election Outcome
Merz said the result was largely due to the popularity of the Greens' lead candidate, Cem Ozdemir, a moderate former agriculture minister with a more established profile than his 37-year-old CDU rival Manuel Hagel.
Impact on Federal Government and Economic Reforms
Coalition Stability in Berlin
He said he had spoken with the leaders of his Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners in Berlin and promised to move ahead more quickly with reforms to the sluggish economy, which is emerging from two years in recession.
"We agree that this result will have no impact on the coalition here in Berlin. We will continue our work," he told a news conference at the CDU party headquarters in Berlin.
Commitment to Economic Progress
"We need to make up for the ground we have lost in Germany over many years and decades, and we in the coalition are aware of this, as is the SPD," he said, pledging to make "more substantial progress" with promised economic reforms.
Final Election Dynamics
Initially trailing in the race, the Greens caught up with Merz's Christian Democrats as the ballot approached, helped by the popularity of Ozdemir. But the final result of the election, run on a mixture of direct and proportional representation, left the two parties with the same number of seats in state parliament.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie, Editing by Linda Pasquini and Ros Russell)
