East Germany turns blue – BSW ahead of SPD

The AfD is on course to win the European elections in all five eastern German states. According to interim and preliminary results, the party was the strongest force in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia.

A similar picture emerges in the other places: The CDU, which provides the Prime Minister in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, follows in second place, the newly founded Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) came in third place with around 15 percent each. The SPD – the governing party in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – is in some cases a long way behind.

In Saxony and Thuringia, a new state parliament will be elected on September 1st, and in Brandenburg on September 22nd. In the former federal states and in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD is classified as definitely right-wing extremist and is being monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

The AfD was already the strongest force in Saxony and Thuringia in the 2021 federal election. In Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania it was the SPD.

The results in the federal states in detail:

In Saxony, the AfD is followed by the CDU with 23.5 percent with 36.6 percent. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) achieved 13.3 percent in its first election participation. This is followed by the SPD (5.8), the Left Party (3.6), the Greens (3.1) and the Free Voters (2.8). However, results from voting districts in Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz are still pending.

With 30.7 percent, the AfD is also above the 30 percent mark in Thuringia after all votes have been counted. The CDU is the second strongest party with 23.2. The BSW is stronger with 15.0 percent than the SPD with 8.2 percent and the Left, whose Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow is, with 5.7 percent. The Greens follow with 4.2 percent, the FDP and the satirical party “Die Partei” with 2.0 percent.

In Brandenburg, after almost all votes had been counted, the AfD received 27.7 percent, while the co-governing CDU received 18.3 percent of the votes. Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke’s SPD received 13.1 percent, just behind the BSW with 13.7 percent. The co-governing Greens received 5.9 percent, the Left 4.4 percent, the FDP 3.2 percent, “The Party” 2.3 percent and the Free Voters 2.1 percent.

In Saxony-Anhalt, around 2,500 of 2,579 electoral districts have been counted. According to current figures, the AfD has received 30.8 percent, followed by the governing party CDU with 22.5 percent. Here, too, the BSW is in third place with 14.7 percent. This is followed by the SPD (8.6), the Left (4.8), the Greens (4.0) and the FDP (2.5).

On the Baltic Sea, the AfD achieved 29.9 percent and the CDU 20.9 percent. The BSW achieved its best result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 15.8 percent of all eastern German states. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig’s SPD received 10.2 percent and its coalition partner Die Linke 4.8 percent. The Greens are at 4.6 percent and the FDP at 2.5 percent.