Merz arrives in Kyiv with aid; back home, his party hits a new low as Germans back pro-Russia AfD

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv with fresh military and energy support for Ukraine as a new INSA poll showed his CDU/CSU alliance falling to a record-low 18 percent, while the AfD climbed to 30 percent. Merz was expected to announce €1 billion in military aid and advance a joint drone-production agreement during the visit. The trip came after major CDU setbacks in eastern Germany, where the AfD recorded strong results in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Merz continued to defend support for Ukraine and higher defence spending, while warning of alleged Russian hybrid attacks across Europe. Moscow dismissed Berlin’s claims as “nonsense.”