Exit polls in Germany show the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc with a clear lead in European parliamentary elections, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) taking second place.
The polls, released just after polls closed in Germany on Sunday evening, showed Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition doing poorly, with his Social Democrats (SPD) and his primary coalition partners, the Greens, both trailing the AfD.
Scholz's SPD slipped to 14%, according to forecasts from public broadcasters ZDF and ARD. That would be the worst result in a nationwide election for the centre-left SPD, which has historically been one of the dominant parties in German politics.
The exit polls put support for the AfD at 16% to 16.5%, behind only the CDU/CSU bloc at 29.5% to 30%.
The AfD's co-chairman, Timo Chrupalla, hailed the projections as a "historic result" for the party. SPD's General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, meanwhile, acknowledged "a tough defeat for us today" in comments to public broadcaster ARD on Sunday evening.
Scholz's main coalition partner, the Greens, saw support fall to between 12% and 12.5%, according to the exit polls. That would be a major drop from the last European Parliament election, when the Greens won 20.5% of the vote.
The liberal-conservative Free Democrats (FDP), the junior partner in Scholz's three-way coalition, stood at 5% in the poll.
Bavarian state premier Markus Söder of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) said the results should be read as a stern rebuke to Scholz and his government's policies.
Scholz's coalition "has de facto been voted out by the citizens," Söder declared.
The newly founded populist party Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) hit 5.5% to 6%, according to the exit polls, while the far-left The Left party tumbled to just 2.8% to 3%.
According to forecasts, voter turnout in Germany was between 64% and 66%, up from 61.4% in 2019. For the first time this year, 16 and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote in the European Parliament election in Germany.