Germany's Merkel admits migrant policy cost votes

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded Monday that her migrant policies were partly to blame for her conservative party's thrashing in state elections here.

"I'm the party chairwoman, and I'm not going to duck responsibility," Merkel told reporters a day after her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party received 18% of the vote in elections in Germany's capital. The result was the party's worst ever performance in Berlin.

"If one of the reasons for the CDU's poor showing is that the direction, goal and conviction behind our refugee policy haven't been explained well enough, I'll endeavor to rectify that," she said.

Setback for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party in Berlin state election

While Merkel's CDU and its coalition partner the Social Democrats (SPD) were the two strongest parties in the contest, they both lost ground to Alternative to Germany (AfD), an anti-immigration party that won 14% of the vote. AfD is not yet represented at the federal level, but its showing Sunday means it will now sit in 10 state legislatures in Germany. The Left Party, an anti-capitalist group with ties to former East Germany, also did well. It won 16% of the vote.

The result means that the CDU and SPD won't be able to carry on with their coalition government in Berlin.

Merkel has faced a string of poor state election results this year over her decision to let in more than a million migrants last year from conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.

She faces a general election next year. Ahead of that, she said Monday she will make efforts to win back supporters. "Germany will change, as we will all change," she said.