Conservatives Win in Germany’s Elections Moving the Country to the Political Right

What Happened?

Conservatives were victorious in Germany’s recent elections, meaning Friedrich Merz will likely replace Olaf Scholz as the Chancellor of Europe’s most populous country.

Mr. Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic party received the most votes at 28.5% of the total cast. According to the BBC, Alternative for Germany, better known as AfD, has doubled its standing in the past four years to 20.8%, and is now the second most popular party in Germany’s parliament. 

The party of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz only garnered 16.4% of the vote in its worst electoral performance in the past decade. A record 82.5% of eligible voters in Germany cast ballots in this election.

Why it Matters

Germany’s voter turnout was the highest since 1987, with more than four out of every five voters in Germany participating in this election. The high turnout indicates an interested and engaged public, and there were at least nine televised debates during the final portion of the election alone.

One of the top issues of the election was immigration, which Mr. Merz repeatedly invoked while campaigning. Germany, like much of Europe, has seen waves of new migrants, most recently Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion which began in 2022. 

Prior to that several waves of migrants from the Middle East had made their way to Europe. For many years Germany had a very open immigration policy. But the large numbers of new migrants and several high profile attacks carried out by new arrivals has turned public opinion away from open immigration and towards more restrictive policies.

The war in Ukraine was another key issue for the election, and Mr. Merz said he plans to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia. He posted on X that “for a fair peace, the country that is under attack must be part of the peace negotiations.”

The election results when displayed visually offer a striking portrait of the political divisions in Germany today. To the west and southwest the conservative Christian-Democratic party dominated results, and in the east the AfD was just as dominant. 

The second place AfD party cannot become part of the next government due to Germany’s brandmauer or “firewall” agreement. This prohibits any party deemed extremist from being part of the government.

How it Affects You

Germany’s election saw right leaning political parties make the most gains, but the left also gained thanks largely to younger German voters. 

The process of forming a new government will require these parties to work together, and much of the deal making that is part of that process will likely play out over the next several months.

Germany is Ukraine’s second largest weapons supplier after the United States, and German support continues even if the U.S. stopped sending supplies Ukraine could likely continue fighting for some time.