Belov Vladislav Borisovich – Ph.D. in Economics, Leading Researcher, Member of the Directorate of the Institute of Europe RAS, Head of the Department of Country Studies, Head of the Centre for German Studies, Institute of Europe RAS
The recent elections to the European Parliament (EP) (June 2024) demonstrated a growing engagement from the German electorate, with two-thirds of the voting population supporting one of the 35 German parties. For the first time, citizens as young as 16 participated in the election. Established opposition parties, notably the conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the protest-oriented Alternative for Germany (AfD), gained the highest number of votes. In stark contrast, the governing coalition parties – the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Liberals – experienced significant losses, collectively achieving voter support comparable to that of the CDU/CSU bloc. Amid the continued decline of left-wing support, newly established Alliance of Sarah Wagenknecht for Reason and Justice (founded in January 2024) secured a confident entry into the EP, outperforming other small parties. The author analyzes the results of the European electionsas well as the subsequent regional elections held in September in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg, which reinforced the trends observed in June. The poor results prompted the leadership of the Alliance 90 / The Greens party to resign and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) to consider exiting the federal coalition. The article concludes that Germany’s party-political landscape continues to fragment, with shifts in electoral preferences largely driven by public disapproval of the «traffic light» coalition government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Many citizens believe the government has failed to meet coalition commitments and to effectively address multiple crises impacting the economy. These sentiments were confirmed by the governmental crisis in October–November 2024, leading to the coalition’s dissolution. In response, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier agreed to hold early Bundestag elections on February 23, 2025. The author compares the nature of the 2024 European Parliament elections in Germany and Eastern European countries, including an analysis of the political preferences of German parties in the context of their cooperation with Eastern European partners within the major party groups of the European Parliament. Special attention is given to Germany’s main «people’s parties» – the CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD.
Germany, European Union, European Parliament, elections, established parties, multiple crises, protest voting, Landtag, Bundestag, groups and factions in the European Parliament.
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