00:00A regional election in Germany is putting renewed pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Mertz
00:05after the far-right alternative for Germany, or AFD,
00:08recorded a major victory in the eastern state of Saxony on halt.
00:13The AFD won nearly 44% of the vote, more than double its support there five years ago,
00:20putting it well ahead of Mertz's Christian Democrats.
00:23But it was three seats short of an upright majority.
00:29The result adds pressure on Mertz, whose Christian Democrats won just 17% of the vote,
00:35around half their support from the previous election.
00:39Without an absolute majority, the AFD would need a coalition partner
00:43or support from lawmakers outside the party to form a government,
00:46something that German mainstream parties have thus far refused to provide.
00:51The AFD's candidate for governor, Ulrich Zygmunt, called the result historic.
00:56The search in support for the party, which ran on a platform of restricting immigration,
01:01ending aid to Ukraine, and taking Germany out of the euro,
01:04is significant in a country where the legacy of Nazism has long kept the far-right at the political margins.
01:11The regional election also reflects a wider trend.
01:15The AFD has been gaining support, particularly in eastern Germany,
01:19as Germany's mainstream parties continue to lose ground.
