Upcoming European elections - CDU secures victory in NRW elections, while AfD experiences significant growth.
In Europe's elections, North Rhine-Westphalia's CDU emerges as the dominant party, predicted by WDR. They garnered 32.0% of the votes and have surpassed their 2019 score (27.9%).
Wuest calls on the traffic light coalition to cease disagreements: "Stop fighting!"
State party chief and minister-president Hendrik Wuest remarked cheerfully at the Düsseldorf headquarters on Sunday night. CDU's impressive victory in NRW surpasses the national average (20:37: 30.3%), indicating the center-right political route's efficacy. The election results serve as a timely message to the traffic light coalition: "Stop disputing and start making decisions for the people of our nation."
SPD obtains its worst results in NRW's EU elections
Coming in second is the SPD with 16.7%, clearly lower than 2019's percentage (19.2%). North Rhine-Westphalia's SPD co-chair Sarah Philipp and Achim Post admitted to a "startling defeat" and plan to learn from their errors in the forthcoming municipal and federal elections. "We can't simply carry on," asserted Post in a statement.
The Greens see a drastic decline in NRW's EU elections
The Greens' influence has significantly diminished in NRW with 13.7% - a sizeable drop from their previous top result in 2019 (23.2%). Their state chair Yazgulue Zeybek admitted, "It seems we failed to alleviate people's concerns and convey that our endeavors lead to a sustainable prosperity and security." Zeybek pledges to work on improving this aspect.
AfD achieves considerable progress in NRW's EU elections
The AfD successfully increased its percentage from 8.5% (2019) to 12.8%. State party and faction leader Martin Vincentz attributed the heightened results to the AfD's focus on critical topics. Despite the strenuous campaign, Vincentz considered the outcome an "impressive result."
Wuest emphasizes the importance of reflecting on AfD's success
Wuest acknowledged the AfD's growth in popularity and urged all parties to consider the consequences. Nevertheless, Wuest expressed satisfaction that "the majority of the population has dismissed all the unfounded anticipations," while NRW benefits immensely from the European Union's presence.
Potential new beginning for Düsseldorf's former mayor Thomas Geisel in the European Parliament
The FDP secured 6.1% votes in NRW, a minor decline from 2019's votes (6.7%). Meanwhile, the newly founded Left Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) gained 4.1%. Should the projections hold true, former Dusseldorf mayor Thomas Geisel, who switched from SPD to BSW, might be joining the European Parliament.
FDP remains stable
According to WDR statistics at 21:00 on 29 May, North Rhine-Westphalia's voter turnout stood at 63%.
Sources:
Election results and voter turnout for European elections in Germany: Election Dashboard IT.NRW
Information from the state election commissioner NRW.
