Of particular interest are the first political reactions in Germany to the result of the parliamentary elections in neighboring France. A first assessment.

“The worst is averted, as the ethno-populists of Marine Le Pen have no hope of gaining a governing majority” is the comment of Nils Schmidt, representative of K.O. of the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) on the outcome of the French elections. Speaking today to the newspapers of the Funke group, the German politician points out that French President Emmanuel Macron is “politically weakened”, but maintains a central role in political developments. The point is now “that political parties show flexibility and willingness to compromise”Schmidt concludes.

On the same wavelength, SPD General Secretary Kevin Kuhnert states on German television (ARD) that he was “relieved” by the result of the French elections and believes that “the majority of French people do not want to be ruled by the far right. But in addition, the majority of French people realize that in the last years with Macron there was no hope for social justice..

Intentions for Melanchon as well

A far-right government may have been prevented in neighboring France, but the “opponent of awe”, the leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is also causing reservations, especially in the “camp” of the Christian Democrats (CDU). The statement of the former president of the CDU, Armin Lasset, is typical, who points out that “Madame Le Pen’s far-rights did not win, but neither did Melanchon’s anti-Semitic and anti-German far-lefts. There is still the possibility of a democratic and pro-European majority”. In the parliamentary elections of 2021 Lasset had contested the chancellorship against the social democrat Olaf Solz, without achieving his goal. Today he is an ordinary member of parliament, but he also participates in the presidency of the Franco-German Interparliamentary Conference.

Speaking to the German News Agency (dpa), the German politician justifies Emmanuel Macron’s latest actions and says that “when one-third of the voters vote for the Far Right, then obviously one has to mobilize the remaining two-thirds of the voters”. Armin Lasset even believes that the Germans can also learn lessons from the latest developments in France, especially regarding the impact of the populist party “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) in the eastern states of the country. “We act as if the AfD has the whole of eastern Germany in their hands, even though they have only won a third of the voters”says the Christian Democrat politician. “If the remaining two-thirds went to vote and we had a high voter turnout, we have the same chance of defeating the AfD as it did in France.”