BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was facing pressure Monday after the far-right Alternative Germany (AfD) party swept to a landslide victory in a regional election, possibly paving the way for the first right-wing populist state government since the Nazi era.

AfD, classified by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency as an extremist group in some regions of the country, fell just short of a majority in Sunday’s election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.