{"id":4399,"date":"2016-09-12T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=4399"},"modified":"2016-09-12T13:10:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T17:10:16","slug":"merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Santiago Losada<\/strong>
\nStaff Writer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the\u00a0party of Chancellor\u00a0Angela Merkel,\u00a0suffered a substantial loss in the elections of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a state in northeastern Germany. The CDU came in third behind the Social Democrats (SPD) and the right-wing populists Alternative\u00a0for\u00a0Germany\u00a0(AFD).<\/p>\n

Although the state election will not have a direct impact on the federal government, it does bear symbolic significance. The New York Times<\/a> reports that the loss shows Merkel facing a strong electoral challenge from the far right, complicating her efforts in forging a united German response to Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.<\/p>\n

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was the state represented by Chancellor Merkel when she was first elected to the Bundestag.<\/p>\n

In Germany, the government is usually formed through a coalition of the two largest political parties. Today, the two parties are Merkel\u2019s CDU and the SPD. According to The Guardian<\/a>, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has usually followed the federal power structure of a \u201cgrand coalition\u201d between SPD and CDU.<\/p>\n

Since Merkel opened Germany\u2019s borders to migrants fleeing the Middle East last year, however, her approval ratings have plummeted from 67 percent to a five-year low of 45 percent. Defeats like the one in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern can increase pressure on Chancellor Merkel to limit the number of refugees entering Germany, which she has refused to do, reports The Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The state\u00a0election, which is seen as a\u00a0trial for\u00a0the\u00a0general elections next year, was a referendum on Merkel’s refugee policy. The anti-immigrant and anti-Islam sentiment within the new AFD party\u00a0has appealed\u00a0to many who are concerned about the integration of refugees and worried about Germany\u2019s domestic security.<\/p>\n

AFD was initially formed as a platform for critics of the European Union\u00a0and of\u00a0Germany’s bailout of southern European countries. In the three years since its creation, it has gained a lot of ground, thanks to the refugee crisis. Reuters<\/a> reports that the party’s alarming growth has allowed it to enter three new state parliaments earlier this year, and that now it has representatives in eight of Germany\u2019s 16 state assemblies.<\/p>\n

Many in Germany are concerned that Merkel\u2019s government has accepted too many refugees and that these newcomers will claim jobs and housing that should be available to German citizens. Others fear that refugees will be very costly to taxpayers and that their presence will affect Germany\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

Analysts predict that the CDU may suffer losses in Berlin\u2019s elections next week. Jacqueline Boysen, who wrote a biography on Ms. Merkel, is not worried. “It would be unlike her to leave the party a mess,\u201d Boysen said. \u201cShe is very much aware of duty.\u201d Boysen added that despite the uphill election battle that awaits her, Merkel should not be written off just yet because \u201cshe has a habit of bouncing back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The election results in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the state represented by Angela Merkel when she was first elected to the Bundestag, could foretell more losses for her party in next year’s general election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3455,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,387],"tags":[404,467,468,493,842],"class_list":["post-4399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news","category-europe","tag-elections","tag-germany","tag-angela-merkel","tag-migrants","tag-cdu"],"yoast_head":"\nMerkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections - The Diplomatic Envoy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections - The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The election results in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the state represented by Angela Merkel when she was first elected to the Bundestag, could foretell more losses for her party in next year's general election.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-12T12:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-12T17:10:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Santiago Losada\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Santiago Losada\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Santiago Losada\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66747a1789c0beb61c6454cb7a5840e4\"},\"headline\":\"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-12T12:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-12T17:10:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Elections\",\"Germany\",\"Angela Merkel\",\"migrants\",\"CDU\"],\"articleSection\":[\"International News\",\"Europe\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/\",\"name\":\"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections - The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-12T12:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-12T17:10:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66747a1789c0beb61c6454cb7a5840e4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/12\\\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"description\":\"Words Beyond Borders\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66747a1789c0beb61c6454cb7a5840e4\",\"name\":\"Santiago Losada\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/45f220ac0aca2a85100b7d29c172399806264c8b7db6c52f912cff8cc4f68deb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/45f220ac0aca2a85100b7d29c172399806264c8b7db6c52f912cff8cc4f68deb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/45f220ac0aca2a85100b7d29c172399806264c8b7db6c52f912cff8cc4f68deb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Santiago Losada\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/author\\\/losadasa\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections - The Diplomatic Envoy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections - The Diplomatic Envoy","og_description":"The election results in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the state represented by Angela Merkel when she was first elected to the Bundestag, could foretell more losses for her party in next year's general election.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/","og_site_name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","article_published_time":"2016-09-12T12:00:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-12T17:10:16+00:00","author":"Santiago Losada","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Santiago Losada","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/"},"author":{"name":"Santiago Losada","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/66747a1789c0beb61c6454cb7a5840e4"},"headline":"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections","datePublished":"2016-09-12T12:00:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-12T17:10:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/"},"wordCount":480,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Elections","Germany","Angela Merkel","migrants","CDU"],"articleSection":["International News","Europe"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/","name":"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections - The Diplomatic Envoy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-09-12T12:00:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-12T17:10:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/66747a1789c0beb61c6454cb7a5840e4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/09\/12\/merkels-cdu-suffers-state-elections-defeats-in-germany\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Merkel\u2019s CDU Suffers Defeat in German State Elections"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/","name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","description":"Words Beyond Borders","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/66747a1789c0beb61c6454cb7a5840e4","name":"Santiago Losada","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45f220ac0aca2a85100b7d29c172399806264c8b7db6c52f912cff8cc4f68deb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45f220ac0aca2a85100b7d29c172399806264c8b7db6c52f912cff8cc4f68deb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45f220ac0aca2a85100b7d29c172399806264c8b7db6c52f912cff8cc4f68deb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Santiago Losada"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/author\/losadasa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4399"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4413,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4399\/revisions\/4413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}