France, Sept. 7 -- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday he was "deeply shocked" by his party's crushing defeat to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Saxony-Anhalt, acknowledging that his own unpopularity had contributed to the result while vowing to press ahead with reforms.

"This is the heaviest electoral defeat the CDU has suffered in years, in decades," Merz told reporters in Berlin, a day after the AfD won 43.8 percent of the vote in the eastern state.

The chancellor's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) took just 17 percent, losing roughly half the support it secured at the previous state election.

"Naturally, this will have to have consequences," Merz said, conceding that both his personal ratings...