The results of the two regional elections in Germany’s east have sent shockwaves through Europe.
The victory in Thuringia for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) — a far-right party known for its relativism and ambiguity about Germany’s Nazi past — was met with horror and disbelief.
The leader of the liberal Renew group in the European Parliament, Valérie Hayer, called it “unprecedented” and “a dark day” for Germany and Europe.
“We shall not let Europe give in to racist, antisemitic, misogynist and homophobic movements,” Hayer said in a social media post on Monday.
“Friends of Russia in a former USSR satellite state. Enemies of migrants in the German area with little immigration. Rancour against everything and everyone,” European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni posted on X.
It seems unlikely that the AfD and the leftist populist Sarah Wagenknecht party — which came in third in both Thuringia and Saxony — will turn this majority of opinion into a governing coalition.
But could this strong anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian sentiment influence the German or even European position on supporting Ukraine?
“Luckily, the (federal states) do not decide on foreign policy. So the support in Germany, according to all the polls, we know is quite high, and the same goes for Europe,” Peter Hefele, policy director at the centre-right think tank Wilfried Martens Centre in Brussels, told Euronews.
“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,” he added.
Energy transition to stay on track?
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.
“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,” he told Euronews.
“There are different things that we need to address in the eastern parts. We in Germany need to appreciate more of what they have already done in terms of transformation and how they have already achieved a lot.”
