Ramelow of Die Linke gives news conference after becoming new Thuringia state premier in Erfurt
Bodo Ramelow of the Left party (Die Linke) gives a news conference after becoming the new Thuringia state premier, in Erfurt December 5, 2014. The reform communist Left party took power in a German state on Friday for the first time since reunification, ending a quarter century of conservative rule in Thuringia and raising the chance of a left-wing threat to Angela Merkel in the next federal vote. The Left, which traces its roots to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) that once ruled East Germany and built the Berlin Wall, will run the state southwest of Berlin with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens in a three-way coalition. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS HEADSHOT)