Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives lost out in two out of three regional state elections on Sunday as Germans gave a thumbs-down to her accommodating refugee policy with a big vote for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The poor showing in both Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate represented a worst-case scenario for Merkel, who has staked her legacy on her decision last year to open Germany's doors to over 1 million migrants.
The backlash was also visible in Saxony-Anhalt in former East Germany, where Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) remained the largest party but the AfD grabbed 21.5 percent. "We have fundamental problems in Germany that led to this election result," said AfD chief Frauke Petry, whose party entered all three regional parliaments.
The result is a setback for Merkel just as she is trying to use her status as Europe's most powerful leader to seal a European Union deal with Turkey to stem the tide of migrants.