According to projections, the Union and SPD did worse than ever before in a nationwide election. The CDU, not its Bavarian sister party the CSU, was responsible for the Union’s heavy losses. The Social Democrats also suffered a fiasco in the state elections in Bremen, held at the same time. According to a projection by the returning officer, the CDU was ahead of the SPD. The city-state has been a red stronghold for more than 70 years.

The elections were the first test of opinion for the CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer since she took office in December; Chancellor Angela Merkel had largely stayed out of the election campaign. Kramp-Karrenbauer acknowledged shortcomings in climate protection policy, which was an important election topic. CSU leader Markus Söder is demanding a strategic rethink of the Union: “The biggest challenge of the future is the intensive debate with the Greens,” he said on Bavarian television.

The SPD party and faction leader Andrea Nahles called her party’s performance “painful”. Former SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel told the “Tagespiegel” newspaper that it was now “about the existence of the SPD as a political force in Germany.”

According to projections by ARD and ZDF television, the CDU/CSU Union achieved 28.4 to 28.7 per cent – around seven points less than in the 2014 European elections (35.4 per cent) and also worse than in the latest federal election (32.9 per cent).

The SPD crashed to 15.5 to 15.6 per cent. In the previous European elections the figure was 27.3 per cent and 20.5 per cent in the federal elections. According to projections, the Greens will gain 20.7 per cent – ten points more than in the European elections five years ago (10.7 per cent). The AfD has 10.8 per cent (2014: 7.1 per cent). The Left is on 5.4 per cent (2014: 7.4 per cent), the FDP on 5.4 to 5.5 per cent (2014: 3.4 per cent). Other parties account for 13.4 to 13.7 per cent.

The Greens called their historic result a “signal for more climate protection.” “This is a Sunday for the Future,” said leading candidate Sven Giegold, alluding to the climate protection movement Fridays for Future. According to an analysis by infratest dimap for ARD television, the Greens are the strongest force among voters under 60 years old and stand at 34 per cent among 18-24 year olds.

AfD leader Alexander Gauland spoke of a “difficult election campaign.” Given this, he was happy with the result, he said on ZDF television. In East Germany, however, a triumph for the AfD was emerging. In Saxony and Brandenburg, where state parliament elections are scheduled for the autumn, it was ahead of the CDU according to interim results.

As well as climate protection, the election campaign focussed on the minimum wage, the taxation of internet companies, immigration policy and the debate on copyright law on the internet. However, the campaign was also dominated by concerns over a strengthening of right-wing populists and nationalists.

According to the first Europe-wide forecast for the EU Parliament, after heavy losses, the Christian and Social Democrats will for the first time no longer be in a position to form a majority in the European Parliament alone. Liberal and Green parties gained ground. Right-wing populist parties also made gains. However, some of them failed to live up to their expectations.

According to calculations by TV stations, participation in the election in Germany was 61.5 to 62 per cent – a large increase: five years ago it was 48.1 per cent.

(Original text: dpa. Translation: kc)