Christian conservative party wins in German elections

ERFURT, GERMANY—On Sunday, the right-leaning Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, won nearly 30% of the vote, gaining 208 seats in Germany’s parliament, according to preliminary results. The far-right Alternative for Deutschland, or AfD, came in second, gaining just over 20% of the votes and 158 seats. AfD doubled its votes compared to last year, making it one of the strongest showings of support for a nationalist, anti-immigration party since World War II. CDU leader Friedrich Merz has vowed not to work with the AfD, but now the parties are tasked with forming a coalition government. The previous government collapsed in December after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party, center-left coalition fell apart and he lost a no-confidence vote.

How do Christians in Germany feel?

• Government worker Sven-Christoph Blaesing spoke to WORLD, describing himself as a Christian with the CDU. He thinks the party reflects many of his values, including slowing migration and creating the conditions for affordable housing. However, he added that like any party, he doesn’t agree with everything they stand for.

• In contrast, Christian law and economics student Maximilian Lorenz told WORLD that he doesn’t feel he has a political home in any party. He says the CDU is not pro-family or free-market enough while the AfD’s rhetoric is too extreme.

• At an AfD rally in Germany before the election, another Christian named Uwe told WORLD that he supports the party’s plan to crack down on immigration and remove illegal migrants from the country.

Were there any concerns about the election results? The votes of many German expats —including the German ambassador to London—were not counted because the citizens living abroad did not receive their ballots in time to mail them back. It’s unclear how many Germans were affected, but one German media outlet reported that more than 200,000 German expats were registered to vote, though it’s unclear how many votes weren’t counted as some were able to drive their ballot to the polls or send them with friends. In Germany, vote-counters must receive absentee ballots by the end of election day. The snap election meant officials only had three weeks to send out and receive ballots by mail.

Dig deeper: Listen to my report in The World and Everything in It podcast on European countries cracking down on immigration.