Merkel Heir Apparent Bruised As Party Flirts With Far Right
- Left candidate expected narrow win for minority government
- Surprise vote will reverberate in Berlin, weighing on Merkel
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The leader of Germany’s Christian Democrats battled to recover control after a state leader lined up alongside the far right in a key regional vote.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right CDU on Wednesday voted alongside the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany to put a candidate from the pro-business FDP into power in the eastern region of Thuringia.