In Germany conservatives suffer their worst result ever; social-democrats regroup after miserable winter, but still far from their former strength. Greens reach all-time high, but plunge from early 2021 high. Far-rights are in decline, and communists can miss the 5% benchmark.
Effectively three coalitions are possible: 1) "Jamaica"(Conservatives, Greens, Liberals) - most probable and good option. The only problem here - chancellor Laschet, a weak and pro-Kremlin person. Excluding his personality, this coalition could be most efficient and progressive;
2) "Street light" (Soc-Dems, Greens, Liberals) - very unlikely, as positions of Soc-Dems and Liberals are almost impossible to combine. Still, this coalition may be a revenge by Liberals' leader Lindner towards Conservatives, who believe, the "own" Liberals as coalition partners;
3) "Grand Coalition" (Conserv+SocDems) - the worst one, continuation of Merkel's era of passivity and decline, corruption and grooming of populists and extremists. Personalities of leaders of both parties Laschet and Scholz who suit each other, want no changes, can pave this way;
A notorious "R2G" coalition (Soc-Dems, Greens, far-left Lefts) looks to be not possible anymore, what is great, as this coalition is a triumph of extremist, destructive, pro-Kremlin and anti-West groups. Partly pro-Stalinist, anti-semitic Left party would have infested others.
Anyway, next weeks will be stressful. It will be important, which party: CDU/CSU or SPD - had gained slightly more votes, as the bigger one will have more moral rights to form the coalition ("Regierungsmandat"). Coalition talks will take 3-4 months at least, with unclear result.
It's to expect that the current government will stay in power (as a provisional one, until the new parliament officially elects the new chancellor) until early next year. This means, Merkel as a chancellor will act even more defensive, and German politics will remain paralysed.
In Berlin, it looks like we will have a Green Mayor @Bettina_Jarasch (as Berlin is a self-governing federal region, Mayor of Berlin has a status of a governor of a region and has a huge impact on the federal policy, also via the Bundesrat, the Chamber of Federal Regions).
Fun fact: the far-right party AfD had suffered from voters' migration to almost all parties. The only party which had lost voters to AfD is the far-left Left party. These minds think alike :)
The far-left "Left" party had lost voters to every single party, what is good. Still, I would like to look in the eyes of 100,000 Germans who have "migrated" from neo-stalinist far-left "Left" party to neoliberal laissez-faire FDP :D
The Greens have collected voters from every single party, including 900,000 from the conservative CDU/CSU and the far-left "Left". What effectively makes the Greens the real party of democratic political center
Although Social-Democrats would like to present themselves as the winners of this elections, they are not. They have suffered from voters losses to Greens and to smaller parties ("others"). They have failed to unite Germans, their result depends mostly on terrible campaign by CDU
In federal region Saxony in Eastern Germany, every single electoral district (which is counted until now - cities are not counted yet) had voted for far-right AfD, which is the strongest party in the region with 33%. A clear disastrous result of 30 years rule by Merkel's party.
In the economy capital of German industrial+wealthy south, Stuttgart (the capital of Baden-Wurttemberg, one of 2 Germany's most developed regions), Greens win with a landslide. This is a clear proof that the Greens are a party which can unite ecology, social justice and economy!
German youth is liberal-green, what a relief! Here are votes of those who have voted today for the first time. Bye-bye, far lefts and far rights! You are a lost case! The future is a green progress and economic growth - not a terror rule of bans and fears!
The Liberals' leader Lindner says repeatedly, the Liberals and the Greens should first start coalition talks together and decide, what party (CDU/CSU or SPD) they want to invite to their coalition. This is a good and right decision and can be the first step to a great government!
As votes count continues, Social Democrats gain a bit, conservative CDU/CSU and the third-strong Greens slip a bit. Still, nothing is clear yet, and it is still unclear, if the Left get to the parliament.
The lesson from the political development of the last decades: there are no "great parties" in Germany anymore. Welcome to the world of 6 almost equally strong parties (this can bring both chances and dangers).
Another one success of far-right AfD in the East: in the Eastern German region of Thuringia AfD is the strongest party (exactly as in Saxony):
The left-radical, partly pro-stalinist antisemitic "Left" party gets 4,9% BUT still can get to the parliament (most probably will) bec. of the "3 mandates rule": if a party gets 3 direct mandates (and Left are strong in Berlin), it goes to the parliam. even if misses 5% benchmark
well, the "Left" have got their 3 direct mandates and pass to the parliament despite 4,6% (!) Maybe the worst news today.
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Perfect timing: as Germany goes to elections tomorrow (and the politics is paralysed), Russia is about to start the new war on Balkans. Under its support, Serbia brings tanks and helicopters to the border to Kosava. And now well-organized Serbian mob shouts "Kosava is Serbia".
The current volatility among German parties (the SPD has gained over 100%, the Greens have lost almost 40% since May, the CDU plunges and bounces back like a penny stock) is a terrible signal. German voters are clearly disoriented, try to approach strategic questions emotionally.
We used to live in Germany with strong programmatic parties, where people's electoral behaviour is based on understanding they provide certain parties with a mandate for the next 4 years. Now, the mood swings because of such things like "did she took a right pose while talking".
This sort of decision-taking is incredibly childish. Voters prefer to forget they will have to live with the politicians who they elect now based on a two-second-long impression. It is not like to buy a €1 T-Shirt and throw it away next day. These people will rule our country!
"Why do we need a toxic visit of a political dead?" - asks a respectable Ukrainian expert Mikhailo Honchar in his column regarding the upcoming visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Kyiv. This is all you need to know about how Merkel had ruined Germany's image in Ukraine.
Futher, Honchar, while pointing out that the opening of NordStream2 is planned on the anniversary of Stalin-Hitler pact, names Merkel "Putins most important partner in the West", says, Merkel had "de-facto proclaimed embargo on delivering of European defensive goods to UA"...
...that she "left pro-European countries like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova out of the participation in EU membership plan", that she "ignores human rights violations in Crimea" etc.
Head of Russian delegation to PACE, vice-head of PACE, vice-speaker of RUS Parliament Tolstoy: "Ukrainians and Russians are one people. We need to execute the leaders of Ukraine who have usurped the power. Hang them on street lights. Ukraine is a part of our Great Russia".
I remember, as German Foreign Ministry and @HeikoMaas invested a lot of influence to return suspended Russian delegation back to PACE 2 years ago. Minister Maas had personally celebrated Russia's comeback as a "tool for a dialogue" and "strenghthening of civil society" in Russia.
I am sure, nobody among the leadership of current German government feel sorry for what terrible decisions they have made - and forced European partners to follow them. No shame, no regret.
I wonder why the topic of "Ukrainian collaboration with Nazis" is so popular in the West, and no one mentions way more active and broad collaboration of Russians with Nazis (I don't speak here about Stalin-Hitler pact). THREAD:
Dozens of thousands of Russians used to fight for Hinter as SS or Wehrmacht soldiers. Most know formations were: 1) Russian Liberating Army (ROA), up to 130,000 soldiers in 1945, under command of General Vlasov, a former Soviet Lieutenant General, decorated with Lenin Order.
ROA used the "St.Andrew Flag" as their ensign, now used by Russian navy.
While Moscow weaponises its narrative "Nazi Germany had fought against (Soviet) Russia", it were Belarus and Ukraine, which were mostly occupied and destroyed by Nazis. Only 3% of modern Russia was occupied by Nazis, compared to 100% of Belarus and 100% of Ukraine. THREAD
In the modern German discussion, all the good anti-Nazi actions done by the USSR in WWII are "Russian", while Ukrainians get the role of "collaborationists". Yesterday newspaper @DIEZEIT publishes a propaganda story by Putin, and editors (!) name Soviet soldiers - "Russian".
Among all nations of the USSR, Ukraine had suffered most losses in WWII in percentage to population: 16,3% (Russia: 12,7%). Over 75% of Ukrainian losses were civilians. gdb.rferl.org/90A46705-EC03-…