Germany votes in EU elections that could rattle coalition

DPA, 26TH MAY, 2019 - Germany votes on Sunday in European elections overshadowed by forces hostile to the European Union and with the traditional centre-right and centre-left parties expecting to be hit by a sharp fall in support that could jeopardize the national government in Berlin.

Polls opened at 08.00 am local time (0600 GMT) and were to close at 6.00 pm, with initial exit polls expected 90 minutes later.

Pre-election polling gave the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), in alliance with its Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), just 28 per cent of the vote, down more than 7 percentage points on the 2014 elections.the left-of-centre Social Democrats (SPD) are potentially facing a disastrous decline of 10 percentage points to 17 per cent.

This, along with an expected poor outcome in the city-state of Bremen, which votes in a separate state election on Sunday, could threaten the coalition at federal level, where the SPD serves as junior partner to the CDU/CSU.

Politicians in all the main parties have spent recent days issuing warnings against a vote for the anti-immigrant and eurosceptic Alternative for Germany (AFD), expected to take 12 per cent, 5 points up on 2014, but in line with its result in the 2017 German federal elections.

Germany’s Protestant and Catholic churches, which traditionally keep out of election campaigning, have also weighed in.the heads of both churches issued a warning on Saturday clearly aimed at the AFD to the effect than “nationalist fearmongers” had no answers to the questions facing Europe. Germany votes in EU elections that could rattle coalition.