Open this photo in gallery:German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz and Saxony-Anhalt's State Premier Sven Schulze arrive to a press conference after the party's leadership meeting in Berlin on Sept. 7, one day after regional elections in the eastern federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.RALF HIRSCHBERGER/AFP/Getty ImagesChancellor Friedrich Merz ruled out working with the Alternative for Germany on Monday after the far-right party surged into first place in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, but he conceded the result had shaken his party “to its very foundations.”The AfD is appealing to lawmakers from Merz’s conservatives to support its...