German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has suffered defeats in two of three states holding regional elections. Exit polls suggest Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party lost support in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland Palatinate, but remains the largest party in Saxony-Anhalt.
The polls indicate the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany or AfD achieved gains in all three states. The elections were seen as a test of support for Chancellor Merkel’s policy of accommodating refugees. More than a million migrants and refugees entered Germany last year.
In the western state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a former stronghold of Christian Democratic Union party, support for the party reached a historic low of about 27 per cent. Exit polls suggest the Green-led coalition currently in power won the election.