Skip next section Dresden: anti-Merz protests expected
10/28/2025October 28, 2025
Dresden: anti-Merz protests expected
While ‘s visit to is primarily aimed at shoring up conservative support in and preventing more right-leaning voters from supporting the far-right , the chancellor’s visit is also set to prompt protests from the left.
Left-wing groups including the global climate protection movement are expected to protest against proposed cuts to social welfare and against Merz’s recent controversial “urban cityscape” comments.
On Monday, there were already anti-Merz protests in , the most populous city in Saxony. Around 2,000 people gathered on the city’s central market square (Markt) carrying placards with messages such as “Herz statt Merz” (“Heart, not Merz”), which rhymes in German.
Leipzig was the only part of Saxony in which the AfD (21.9%) didn’t emerge as the largest party at February’s , coming second behind the far-left Left Party () on 22.5%.
https://p.dw.com/p/52g6n
Skip next section Chancellor Merz to visit Saxony amid rising AfD support
10/28/2025October 28, 2025
Chancellor Merz to visit Saxony amid rising AfD support
German Chancellor is set to visit the eastern state of on Tuesday, a region with some of the highest support for the far-right .
At the German federal election earlier this year, the AfD emerged as by far the largest party in Saxony with 37.3% of the vote, well ahead of Merz’s conservative on 19.7% (and indeed the AfD’s national average of 20.8%). In some areas of Saxony, the AfD vote was as high as 57%.
At the local level, the CDU (31.9%) remained marginally ahead of the AfD (30.6%) at the last state election in May 2024 and entered into a minority coalition government with the Social Democrats (, 7.3%).
Saxony State Premier , who has led the state government since December 2017, is a CDU party colleague of Merz.
On Tuesday, Merz has a series of appointments in state capital of , including taking part in a session of Kretschmer’s cabinet. The Chancellor will then speak to apprentices at a local vocational college before visiting the American semi-conductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries, whose Dresden plant is the biggest single employer in the city.
https://p.dw.com/p/52g6m
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage10/28/2025October 28, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Morgen! Welcome to DW’s coverage of what’s making the news in on Tuesday, October 28.
Chancellor is visiting the eastern state of today, a region with some of the highest support for the far-right party.
Merz will visit local employers and apprentices in , but is also set to face protests from left-wing groups.
https://p.dw.com/p/52g8k
The post Germany news: Merz to visit AfD bastion Saxony appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
