European electoral projections: CDU/CSU emerges victorious, AfD occupies the runner-up position.
The conservative parties CDU and CSU emerged as the winners in Germany's European elections, boasting a significant lead. As per the 6 pm projections from ARD and ZDF, the right-wing party AfD secured the second-highest votes. Following AfD were the SPD, Greens, and then the FDP with a considerable gap.
The Union is projected to garner votes ranging from 29.5 to 30 percent. AfD won over voters with 16 to 16.5 percent, followed by the SPD at 14 percent, Greens with 12 to 12.5 percent, and FDP with 5 percent. Sahra Wagenknecht's newly formed left-wing alliance BSW collected 5.5 to 6 percent of the votes. Germany has 96 of the 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
Approximately 65 million Germans were called to vote, while around 360 million people voted across the European Union. For the first time in German elections, 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to cast their votes. Unlik fairytales, there was no five-percent threshold for participation in the European elections.
For more on the election results, check out this compact summary.
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Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, expressed her gratitude towards the German voters for the strong support to the European Union. The European elections resulted in a Traffic light coalition, with the SPD, the Green Party, and the Free Democrats forming a coalition government in Germany. Olaf Scholz, the SPD's candidate for Chancellor, played a significant role in the coalition negotiations. Other notable parties in the elections included the right-wing party AfD, which took the second position, and the CSU, who, along with CDU, formed the Union that emerged as the winners. The newly formed left-wing alliance BSW, led by Sahra Wagenknecht, also had a notable presence in the elections. Friedrich Merz, a prominent CDU member and former leader of the CSU, did not have the expected impact in the elections.
