After a poor showing in exit polls, Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) are bracing for "a very bitter result" in European parliamentary elections, the party's general secretary said on Sunday evening.
"This is a tough defeat for us today," the SPD's Kevin Kühnert told public broadcaster ARD.
Exit polls from broadcasters ARD and ZDF released just after 6 pm (1600 GMT) put the centre-left SPD in third place in the European Parliament elections at 14%, which would be the party's worst performance in a democratic German nationwide election.
Kühnert declined to blame the SPD's leading figure, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for the party's disasterous performance and defended the decision to use Scholz's image prominently on campaign materials and posters.
"We win together and we lose together," Kühnert said, adding that the party is not looking for scapegoats.
Kühnert said that the SPD must now look for mistakes and honestly come to terms with the result. He promised his supporters: "We'll be back."
