“As the provisional results for the European election came in on Sunday, the shock to the German system ran deep. All three parties of the ruling coalition haemorrhaged votes with the Greens plummeting particularly low. Anti-establishment parties made gains. The far-right achieved record results. With regional elections in the autumn and federal elections next year, Germany could be headed for the biggest political upset in the history of its post-war democracy.
On paper, the results read like a stunning reversal of fortunes. The Green Party dropped nearly 9 per cent. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) reached a new low of 14 per cent, down nearly 2 points from their previous worst in 2019. His coalition partners, the Free Liberals (FDP), came in at 5 per cent. Less than a third of German voters opted for the ruling parties combined.”
Olaf Scholz has been humiliated – and Germany is now in crisis