Merkel's party faces test in German state votes
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"A loss in Hesse would be bad for morale for the CDU nationally and for Merkel"  By Madeline ChambersBERLIN  - Voters in two western German states go to the polls on Sunday in a test for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) before next year's federal election.Senior CDU figures are fighting to hold on to power in both states but the race is especially tight in Hesse, home to the financial capital of Frankfurt, where Merkel ally Roland Koch has run a divisive campaign focused on crime and immigration.Koch's battle has ratcheted up tensions in Merkel's fractious national coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD). A strong SPD showing in Hesse could mean a further deterioration in relations and policy gridlock. Read more
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Germany&#39;s two major political parties are bracing for heavy losses in Sunday&#39;s legislative elections in two former communist states.
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Voting started in two western German  states on Sunday in elections widely seen as a test for  Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative Christian  Democrats (CDU) before next year's federal vote.
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Voters dealt German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives a bitter blow in Berlin in regional elections which saw the neo-Nazis make a stunning breakthrough in her home state.
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Gerhard SchrÃ¶der faces defeat tomorrow in the first of a string of German regional elections. Voters were expected to punish the chancellor&#39;s welfare reforms that triggered mass street protests.
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More than 10 million Germans began voting Sunday in state elections that will be the first genuine test at the ballot box for Chancellor Angela Merkel since she came to power in 2005.
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Chancellor Merkel gets high marks as Germany prepares to lead the EU next year and host the G-8 summit.
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BERLIN : German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder&#39;s party vowed to press on with its tough economic reform drive, despite a fresh state election rout that spells trouble for a string of further polls this month.
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HAMBURG (Deutsche Welle) - Germany's Social Democrats ended a party conference with an unexpected vote for speed limits on the country's motorways and criticism of Chancellor Merkel's stance on EU membership for Turkey. Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) voted in favor of introducing a top speed of 130 kph (80 mph) on Germany's famed speed limit-free Autobahns or motorways. The non-binding measure however will be hard to pass into law in the face of opposition by Chancellor Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the SPD's coalition partner. The conference produced another surprise when German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier rebuked Chancellor Merkel for holding out the promise of EU membership to Turkey for decades, contingent on reforms, but then withdrew support.
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BERLIN - Anger over Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder&#39;s tough welfare and jobs reforms has resulted in a surge in support for Germany&#39;s former communists and radical right-wing parties in two key state elections with the rightist National Democratic Party (NPD
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SCHWERIN, Germany  - A far-right anti-foreigner   party has embarrassed German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a   regional election in her home state and delivered a wake-up   call to her 10-month-old government.
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Germany's main neo-Nazi party made inroads in regional elections in Chancellor Angela Merkel's home state while her conservatives suffered a crushing defeat in the capital, results have shown.
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German Christian Democratic Party head Angela Merkel is trying to create a coalition to keep Turkey from becoming a member of the European Union.
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Parties on the fringes of Germany's political spectrum have been given an eager reception in the depressed east ahead of state elections this weekend, luring voters with a mix of xenophobic standards and new complaints over plans to reduce much-needed benefits.
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Voters in two east German states angry over high unemployment handed a rebuke Sunday to Germany's two biggest parties, giving big gains to far right and former Communist groups, television projections showed.
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Voters in the German state of Saarland have delivered another punishing defeat to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party.
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Germany faced a surge of far-right parties in eastern state elections, worrying about their rise and the ensuing damage to the country's image.