The three parties in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition took a severe hit in Sunday's elections to the European Parliament, together securing less than a third of the vote, according to projections, well behind the conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc.
The coalition parties – the Social Democrats (SDP), the Greens and the free-market liberal Free Democrats (FDP) all came in behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), according to projections from public broadcaster ARD.
While the AfD increased its share of the vote considerably, its result was not as strong as pre-election polling a few months ago had suggested.
Scholz's SPD stumbled in 2019 European elections to a result of 15.8%, the worst for the party in living memory. But indications were that it would come in at just 14% this time round.
"This is a very bitter election result for us," party general secretary Kevin Kühnert said.
Scholz appeared relaxed at the SPD post-election event, as party members took selfies with him, but observers believe he will have to take responsibility after publicly positioning himself alongside SPD lead candidate Katarina Barley for the campaign.
At major events, the chancellor presented himself as the peace chancellor, protector of the German state pension and minimum wage and most recently as a hardliner on the deportation of immigrants with serious criminal convictions.
The SPD's worst result shows that it all failed to work. Discontent within the party has led some to suggest that it remains unclear whether Scholz will be the top candidate in the next general elections in 2025.
The Greens also faced major disappointments on Sunday, with just 12.5% in projected results. In 2019, the party took 20.5%.
The disappointment was even greater once it became clear that the AfD had bested the party. The Greens had made beating the AfD a key aim of their European Parliament campaign.
But party head Omid Nouripour insisted the Greens would stay the course at Scholz's side.
The situation could be different with the pro-business FDP, which looked to be holding roughly steady with 5%. Lead candidate Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann termed the outcome "good news."
But that news indicates there is no guarantee that the party will make it into the next German parliament, as 5% is the threshold to take seats in national elections.
The FDP, whose leader Christian Lindner holds the key post of finance minister in Scholz's cabinet, could push for policy changes in the government or shake up the coalition.
"We are demanding a genuine economic turning point for Germany," FDP general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai said. He also called for a change to policies on migration based on limiting numbers. Repeated questioning failed to elicit a response on how much confidence he had in Scholz.
The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), and their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, celebrated a return to the forefront of German politics which the party last saw under former chancellor Angela Merkel. Projections put the alliance on around 30%.
With new-found unity, a new programme and recently re-elected leader Friedrich Merz, the CDU will have momentum headed into state parliamentary elections in three German states in September.
Merz charged that Scholz's three-way coalition was harming Germany and called for "a real change of course."
"With these European elections, we are back again, and by a large distance number one of the German parties," Merz said.
At the last European Parliament elections, the CDU/CSU hit a low of 24.1%.
At the AfD's national headquarters in Berlin, cheers erupted when exit polls and projections came in showing a clear bump for the party, up five percentage points from the 11% secured in 2019.
Party leader Tino Chrupalla termed the outcome "historic" and expressed satisfaction at beating the chancellor's SPD to take second place behind the CDU/CSU.
"When the AfD secures second place in the European elections, that is sensational for us," he told dpa. Chrupalla expressed optimism on the state elections in September, which will all be held in AfD strongholds in the former communist East Germany.
The AfD result nevertheless fell short of opinion polls from a few months ago. The party was hit by a series of scandals, and also faced mass demonstrations denouncing the AfD and right-wing extremists.
Allegations linking the party's top two European Parliament candidates to Russia and China, and a spying scandal involving a senior aide, also damaged its standing.
The new populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) posted a strong result of around 6% in the exit polls, coming in well ahead of the hard-left The Left, previously the main party of the far left.
"It's crazy," Wagenknecht called out to her supporters. "There has never been a party that has achieved a national result like this six months after being founded," she said.
The party's campaign centred on halting military support to Ukraine and calling for negotiations with Moscow. Wagenknecht's populist politics combine traditional left-wing social welfare policies with anti-immigration stances.
The BSW had passed its first test, Wagenknecht said. She called for the campaign to be launched for the upcoming state elections in September and the national elections in just over a year.
Wagenknecht's former party, The Left, fell well back to under 3% from the 5.5% secured in 2019. The upcoming elections could see the party decline into irrelevance.
