Germany's Green Party has, for the first time, outperformed Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democrats in a poll. While the Greens made major gains, larger parties took a drubbing in last weekend's European elections.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
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In a first, a survey released Saturday put Germany's Greens ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative bloc.
The Forsa poll gave the Greens a 27% approval rating — a jump of 9 percentage points from the previous week. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the allied Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) fell two points to 26%.
The result comes a week after the Greens emerged as the second-strongest force in the European Parliament elections with 20.1% of the vote. The CDU/CSU and its junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), on the other hand, suffered historic losses. The CDU/CSU managed 28.9%, while the SPD took 15.8%.
In the Forsa survey, the SPD dropped by 5 percentage points to 12%, its lowest-ever score on a national level. It came just ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's 11%.
The poll, commissioned by German broadcasters RTL and n-tv, was conducted from May 27 to 31 and had 2001 participants.
European Parliament election results: The main countries at a glance
Pro-EU forces took nearly two-thirds of seats in the European Parliament, countering a populist surge in most countries. Nevertheless, euroskeptics fared well in France and Brexit-ridden Britain, among other countries.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Seco
Italy: Populist surge continues
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's far-right League took 33.6% of the vote, a jump from the 17% claimed by the anti-immigration party in 2018 national elections. The results may change the balance of power in the League's fragile coalition with 5-Star, which slumped to 16.6% compared to with 32% in national elections last year. The opposition Democratic Party won 23.5%.
Image: AFP/M. Medina
Spain: Traditional parties buck trend and bounce back
Unlike much of the continent, Spain's traditional center-left and center-right parties enjoyed a renaissance. The governing Socialists picked up 33% of the vote. That makes the PSOE the strongest social democrat delegation in the European Parliament. The conservative, pro-EU Popular Party won 20%, while Ciudadanos took 12.2%. The new far-right Vox party took only 6.2%; Podemos barely cracked 10%.
Image: Reuters/S. Vera
Germany: Main parties suffer losses, Greens surge
Angela Merkel's CDU and its CSU ally won 28% of the vote, down 7 points from 2014. The Social Democrats continued to plunge, dropping 11 points to only 15.6%. The Greens emerged a real winner, doubling their support from the last polls to 20.7%. The euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured 10.6% percent, a notable dip from its 2017 general election performance.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Schwarz
France: Len Pen on top, but most seats to pro-EU parties
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) claimed first place overall, but RN's 23.5% of the vote represented a slight loss of support compared to 2014. The En Marche-led coalition won 22.5%, closer to Le Pen than polls had predicted. The Republicans and Socialists, France's traditional heavyweights, continued their political collapse, while the Greens jumped to third.
Image: Reuters/C. Platiau
UK: Brexit Party first, Conservatives and Labour punished
Britain emerged from the vote polarized as it tries to leave the EU by October. Nigel Farage's Brexit Party took first place with 31.7%, although the pro-EU Liberal Democrats also enjoyed a surge in support. Both the Conservatives and Labour were hammered, receiving 8.7% and 14%, respectively. The UK's latest batch of MEPs will vacate the European Parliament if the country leaves the EU.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA Press/R. Tang
Hungary: Fidesz strong in polls, seeking a group in parliament
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told supporters that his Fidesz party, which won 13 of Hungary's 21 seats in the EU Parliament, "will cooperate with everyone who wants to stop immigration." Fidesz was suspended from the EPP bloc over the deterioration in the rule of law in Hungary. Orban did not address speculation that Fidesz could join Italy's Matteo Salvini's far-right bloc, the ENF.
Image: Reuters/B. Szabo
The Netherlands: Socialists win, anti-EU parties lose ground
Frans Timmermans, the center-left Socialist and Democrats (S&D) bloc's top candidate, led his PvdA party to the top spot in the Netherlands with 19% of the vote. He's called for progressive parties in the EU Parliament such as the Liberals, Greens and Socialist to work together. The Netherlands' two right-wing populist parties secured a combined 15% of the vote.
