Europe reacts to German regional election results. What is the impact?

The results of the two regional elections in Germany’s East have sent shock waves through Europe.

That a far-right party known for its relativism and ambiguity about Germany’s Nazi past was able to win was met with horror and disbelief.

The leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament, Valérie Hayer, called it “unprecedented” and “a dark day” for Germany and for Europe.

The European Commissioner for the economy, Paolo Gentiloni, posted a bitter comment on the strong results of the far right and the populist far left: “Friends of Russia in a former USSR satellite state. Enemies of migrants in the German area with little immigration. Rancour against everything and everyone”.

It seems unlikely that the AfD and far-left Sarah Wagenknecht party will turn this majority of opinion into a governing coalition, but could this strong anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russion sentiment influence the German or even the European position on supporting Ukraine?

Peter Hefele is Policy Director at the centre-right think tank Wilfried Martens Centre in Brussels. He told Euronews:

“Luckily, the Länder do not decide on foreign policy. So the support [for Ukraine] in Germany, according to all the polls, we know is quite high and the same goes for Europe. [But] If you look into the numbers of young people who voted – up to 40% – for the extremist parties then this is really about the future and the vision we can give them, and about their hopes.”

Energy transition remains on track but Easterners’ efforts need to be recognised

One of the biggest losers of both regional elections has been the Green party, part of the governing coalition in Berlin. In Thuringia, they failed to get a single legislator elected.

Does that spell trouble for Germany’s ambitious energy transition goals? German Green MEP Michael Bloss believes that the narrative surrounding the transition should focus more on what has already been achieved, especially in Germany’s East, as he explained to Euronews:

“The transition is working. We are almost world leaders in renewables’ acceleration, energy prices are coming down from where they were when Putin blackmailed us with his gas.

There are different things that we need to address in the Eastern parts. We in Germany overall need to appreciate more of what they have already done in terms of transformation and how they have already achieved a lot.”

But with the political landscape changed beyond recognition and former governing coalitions reduced to irrelevance, the newly elected legislators in Saxony and Thuringia will first of all have to somehow find a way of forming a government.