German ruling parties suffer heavy losses to right wing in European elections

BERLIN -- Parties of the current German coalition government suffered heavy losses in the 2024 European elections, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) garnering its worst result in history in nationwide elections, early results showed on Sunday.

The SPD obtained only 13.9 percent of the vote, placing third behind the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD). The Greens, also a member of the federal government, took a heavy blow with 11.9 percent of votes, a dramatic drop from a record result of 20.5 percent in 2019.

The AfD, which had seen rising support in polls since last year, saw a substantial increase in Sunday's elections, ranking second with 15.9 percent. Voter dissatisfaction with the current government coalition has been a major cause for the rise of the AfD.

The conservative parties Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) garnered 30.2 percent of the votes, a successful result compared with the federal election in 2021.

The strong showing of the CDU/CSU is considered a boost for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in seeking a re-election.