Chancellor Friedrich Merz is determined to hold on to power in Germany in defiance of the growing numbers within his party seeking to push him out of office, according to people familiar with his thinking.

The Alternative for Germany appealed on Monday to lawmakers from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives to support its ​bid to rule Saxony-Anhalt after the far-right party surged into first place in the eastern German state's election.

The Alternative for Germany result is the closest a far-right party has come to holding power at state level in Germany since World War II.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his government will have to learn the lessons from an overwhelming victory by the far right in a state election that he said will alter the country’s politics.

Results show the Alternative for Germany well ahead of rivals. Now other parties must decide whether to let it govern.

BERLIN, Sept 9 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport had been prepared in Russia over an extended period and that a disaster was only narrowly averted.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right Christian Democrats are under mounting pressure from both the far right and radical left ahead of upcoming regional elections, according to new polls published on Sept.

The state election result could lead to a debate over the future of the firewall that has kept the Alternative for Germany out of power.