German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged the poor showing by his Social Democrats (SPD) in European Parliament elections and called for renewed efforts to move the country forward.
Scholz played a prominent role in the SPD's campaign, which ended with the SPD's worst showing in a nationwide election in more than 130 years.
"The election result was bad for all three governing parties," said Scholz on Monday after a meeting with the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, in Berlin.
"No one is well advised to simply go back to business as usual," Scholz continued.
But the chancellor said it is also important that his government continue pushing to make Germany more modern.
He said they must also rebuild support from the public "so that we can put the results of this work to the vote at the next general election and have the trust of the citizens in our work."
"This must now be the benchmark for everyone to make an effort and solve the tasks we face," he said.
Scholz also called increased support in Germany and across the European Union for right-wing populist parties a cause for concern.
However, he stressed that there remains a clear majority in the EU who support for parties that are traditionally committed to democracy and the rule of law.