Merkel’s stumble in German vote may reverberate in Europe

BERLIN — A day after Angela Merkel was humbled at home in national elections, Europe reckoned Monday with a new reality in which the German chancellor — long a rock of political stability for an unsettled continent — was suddenly rendered shaky.

Although Merkel’s party emerged on top for the fourth consecutive time, tying a German postwar record, it lost crucial ground to the far right and endured its worst overall result since 1949.

The surprise outcome offered Merkel few viable options for forming a stable government, with an unwieldy and ideology-bending alliance of conservatives, libertarians and environmentally minded progressives considered the only likely course.

The implications for Europe could be vast. Long reliant on Merkel to patch it through tough times, the continent may find that her steady hand is not what it used to be.

“Foreign policy power depends on your ability to govern back home and deliver. Merkel has always been able to deliver on the European stage. That will be a lot more complicated now,” said Jan Techau, director of the Holbrooke Forum at the American Academy in Berlin.

The timing of Merkel’s stumble is especially troublesome for those who had been looking to the period after the German election as an ideal moment to reform Europe and shore up its rickety and crisis-prone foundations.

Foremost among them was French President Emmanuel Macron, who has laid out ambitious plans for a more centralized and efficient Eurozone.

Macron had viewed the coming months as a rare window for reform, with the leaders of Europe’s two most consequential players — Germany and France — both enjoying a fresh mandate from their voters.

Merkel, though more tentative, had reciprocated, endorsing some of Macron’s ideas and expressing a willingness to work with him.

But the election results complicate that picture considerably.

“The euro needs a revolutionary step forward to be resolved,” Techau said. “That was always unlikely. But it’s made even more difficult now.”

The problem arises from Merkel’s need to watch her right flank, where she lost ground Sunday to the insurgent Alternative for Germany party (AfD) and where there’s long been deep skepticism of any deal that could put German taxpayers on the hook for deficits in Europe’s less prosperous south.