Christian Democrats strongest force in Germany in European elections
Published: Sunday, Jun 9th 2024, 18:40
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In the European elections in Germany, the opposition Christian Democrats have become the strongest force by a large margin. According to forecasts by ARD and ZDF, the right-wing populist AfD also made gains and came second.
The SPD of Chancellor Olaf Scholz follows only behind. The Greens are in fourth place with significant losses. The FDP (Liberals) remains stable, while the Left Party drops sharply - and is overtaken by the new BSW party of Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht.
It is a bitter setback for Scholz's "traffic light" coalition - all three governing parties are losing voters. Just over a year before the next general election (probably in September 2025), the "traffic light" coalition has less than a third of the vote.
According to forecasts, the CDU/CSU increased slightly to between 29.5% and 30% (2019: 28.9%). The AfD achieves its best result in a national election to date with 16 to 16.5%, although this is lower than interim poll figures.
The SPD slumped to 14% (2019: 15.8) - its worst result ever in a nationwide election. The Greens slipped to between 12 and 12.5% (2019: 20.5). The FDP remained almost unchanged at 5% (5.4). The Left Party landed at a meagre 2.8 to 3 percent (5.5). The BSW party, a left-wing populist split-off from the Left, achieved 5.5 to 6 percent from a standing start.
Unlike federal and state elections, the European elections in Germany do not have a threshold clause, i.e. a five percent hurdle. According to forecasts, voter turnout is between 64 and 66 percent. In 2019, it was 61.4%, putting Germany in fifth place among the 27 EU member states. For the first time, 16 and 17-year-olds were also allowed to vote in a European election in Germany.
Plus expected for right-wing parties
In many EU countries, including Germany, a significant increase for right-wing parties had been expected. Pre-election polls had put the AfD at more than 20 percent at one point. However, accusations against its lead candidate Maximilian Krah and the number two on the European election list, Petr Bystron, caused difficulties for the party. Both hit the headlines due to possible links to pro-Russian networks; in Krah's case, there are also possible links to China.
Bystron is under investigation on initial suspicion of bribery and money laundering. Krah, who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019, also recently received massive criticism for trivializing statements about the SS, the so-called Schutzstaffel of the National Socialists. The AfD's federal executive committee subsequently banned Krah from appearing in the election campaign. As a consequence, the right-wing ID (Identity and Democracy) group in the European Parliament expelled all German AfD MPs.
Around 360 million citizens were eligible to vote in the 27 EU member states, including almost 61 million Germans, and a good 4 million EU residents were also allowed to vote in Germany.
From Thursday to Sunday, 720 members of the new European Parliament were elected in Europe - depending on the country - including 96 in Germany on the last day. Apart from the parliamentary elections in India, this is the largest democratic vote in the world - and the only direct election across national borders.
Crisis-ridden years since the 2019 European elections
In the five years since the last European elections in 2019, major crises have kept the EU on tenterhooks: a pandemic with tens of thousands of deaths and a subsequent economic crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the ensuing energy crisis, a renewed high level of migration to Europe and, most recently, the Gaza war and weather disasters such as droughts and floods as a result of the worsening climate crisis.
The European elections are seen as an important test of public opinion in Germany ahead of the three state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September and the Bundestag elections next year. The AfD could become the strongest party in the east in September.
Commission President von der Leyen seeks second term of office
After the election, most MEPs join one of the political groups in the EU Parliament, i.e. the Christian Democratic EPP, the Social Democrats, the Liberals, the Left, the Greens or one of the two right-wing groups.
One of the first tasks of the new Parliament is to confirm the new EU Commission, the executive branch of the Union. The current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat, is seeking a second term in office. Unlike the other candidates, the former Federal Minister of Defense did not apply for a seat in the European Parliament.
The sister party CSU sent its own top candidate, Manfred Weber, into the race. Weber is the EPP group leader in the European Parliament. In 2019, the 51-year-old was the lead candidate for the post of Commission President, but did not receive a majority - so von der Leyen was chosen.
Parallel to the European elections, elections were also held at municipal level in eight federal states in Germany: Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. In Thuringia, numerous district councillors and mayors were also decided in run-off elections.
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