this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
185 points (98.9% liked)

Europe

2565 readers
1537 users here now

News and information from Europe πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in [email protected]. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)

(This list may get expanded when necessary.)

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @[email protected], @[email protected], or @[email protected].

founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 11 points 19 hours ago

Voting for conservatives makes planes fall out of the fucking sky

do they want planes falling out of the fucking sky because that's how they get planes falling out of the fucking sky

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The shit neo-Nazi filled AfD gained a lot of ground. WTF.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Right wing nazi parties are gaining traction all around Europe. Social media has given them a platform where they can make small problems look like big problems. Most of the people voting for them only look at 1 agenda item, which is immigration. Besides that they know jack shit about what these parties are about. If you look at the agenda items, it's all tailored for the elite.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago

We also got Russia and the US weaponizing social media to support far-right parties. The EU needs to get their shit together.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Can someone please explain this for a non-German. I know there was a large concern with the AfD, but what do the results mean so far?

[–] zqps 6 points 12 hours ago

It's not as bad as some polls suggested, but it's pretty fucking bad.

There are few options for coalition-building that don't involve the far-right AfD as the other parties have promised. Meanwhile the far-right and conservative right hold an absolute majority between them, giving them options to approve a lot of heinous shit as they've shown they are willing to do in line with their xenophobic rhetoric.

The upsides are that the Left successfully reinvented their profile and made major gains after being pronounced dead (for the 8th time), the Greens didn't lose as much as the anti-woke anti-education narratives suggested, and the neoliberals are fully out after torpedoing their own government coalition.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Germany will probably get a centrist-right (CDU/CSU) government with a centrist-left junior partner (SPD).
Centrist-right is far left in US terms.

I expect stagnancy in German politics for the next 4 years. -_-

[–] TriflingToad 1 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

So basically as if Democrats won? then why are people so upset?

I don't think I understand

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago

No, more like if (somehow) George Bush and Trump ran against each other and Bush won.

Its far from a great result but its not as bad as it could've been and, from a European standpoint, it means there's strong opposition to Trump and strong support for Ukraine.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago

Because this kind of coalition was the definition of stale, boring politics in the past. No innovations, mainly slight adjustments here and there.

During the last time that coalition said something like "Das Internet ist fΓΌr uns alle Neuland." which means something along the line of "The internet is frontier land for all of us." Within seconds #Neuland (frontier land) became the hash tag for a shitstorm that still lasts to this day - after 12 (!) years.
The internet was already established and well in use everywhere for ~20 years. And now the politicians suddenly recognized a new form of communication. If it wasn't so funny I would have cried.

That's why everyone is disappointed. Can't wait to hear what stupid shit this goverment will tell us. πŸ₯±

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 day ago (7 children)

As a foreigner in Germany, CDU is not centrist at all. Maybe you should consider how your definition of "center" changed in the last years. CDU is a right wing party, CSU even more, leaning into populist views, Afd is extremist.

I wish SPD was left. Most of its policies of the last years were pretty much the same as right wing parties.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

CDU/CSU are basically what Republicans have been a couple years ago. They are very much far right, just not facist.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago

Without divine intervention we will get Friedrich Merz as chancellor, the guy who just one month ago was fine with working together with the Neo Nazi party Afd.

So even if a coalition between CDU and Afd isn't happening, our chancellor is kinda Trump light. Mostly in it for himself and his industry buddies, no political experience and not used to doing compromises. And if somebody criticizes him, he cries like a little baby how unfair we are treating him for calling him a fucking fascist sympathizer.

So I expect a shitty time, but it looks like CDU and Afd can't rule alone and the party that is responsible for the whole fiasco, the liberal FDP, got kicked out of the parliament, so at least that is a silver lining.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Aside from what the others have said, there is also a 2nd exit poll, with slightly different estimations. If reality will match this one, the BSW will get into parliament. They are a splinter party of the leftists, taking a most of the tankie nutcases with them.

They won't be in government or important opposition, but if they make it, the 2 centrist parties alone don't have enough seats. This means they need a 3rd party to form a government, and they have no good options. The preferred party would be FDP, but they are estimated to not make it. The greens would normally be up to it, but CDU/CSU campaign has mostly run on getting the greens out of government. And the Leftist, BSW and AFD are all too extreme for the very pensioner friendly CDU/CSU.

There is a chance we simply won't have a stable government and will have to redo this election, but from most to least likely:

  • Reality is closer to the first poll, boring centrist government, AFD can try again in 4 years
  • The CDU will make some meaningless concessions to the greens and the greens will fall for it
  • The CDU will completely destroy any trust and form a government with AFD
  • There won't be any stable government and a new election is called.
  • Any Leftists in Government
  • There won't be a stable government, our president still elects a chancellor, we will have 4 weeks of a minority government and then someone triggers new elections.

Edit: Results are in, BSW missed getting into parliament by a very slim margin. CDU can form a stable Government with SPD.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Hope it'll stay closer to ARD's exit poll, with FDP and BSW both under 5%. Grand coalition is the best we can reasonably get. It'll be way more stable than any 3-party coalition and I think we really need a stable government capable of getting shit done these next few years.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Problem is, that CDU, SPD will likely be the coalition, where the SPD has no Backbone while the CSU can do whatever the fuck they want (which is paving the way for AfD)

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

In my opinion, the AfD stands to gain far more from another ineffective, quarreling 3-party coalition than from a CDU government with a pushover SPD. That way, the greens will also have an opportunity to rebuild their strength in opposition for the next election. They won't have that while governing with the CDU. Believe me, it's far from my preferred coalition, but I think it would be the best with the hand we were dealt.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

That may be true. I dont know what effect would be more important. We will never know.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Would it not be possible for a 3-party coalition to be perfectly stable? We've had many of those in the Netherlands that went just fine, I believe. Though I guess given the lack of a threshold, those parties might differ less than they do in Germany?

[–] trollercoaster 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If German politicians behaved like adult human beings, and did, as they are supposed to, work for the good of the entire country, then, this would work. The problem is that they don't, most of the time.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (12 children)

Possible maybe, but such a coalition would either involve the Greens, who are absolutely despised by parts of the Union to the point of Bavarian Minister-president Markus SΓΆder declaring them their main enemy and ruling out any coalition, or the FDP, who sabotaged our previous government, caused its collapse and is thus hated by the SPD. The BSW is not a realistic coalition partner with its Pro-Russian stance. So any option for a 3-party coalition would likely result in a lot of conflict and chaos in my opinion. Chaos which the AfD can use to its benefit.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 23 hours ago

Right, that makes sense. So I suppose it's indeed the threshold and parties have more differing opinions.

load more comments (11 replies)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 day ago (3 children)

About what was expected.

Good news for Die Linke, bad news for the Greens, rest looks pretty similar to polling over the past week.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 day ago

The Greens lost the least votes from all the members of the last coalition. SPD and FDP have huge losses.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 day ago

Not necessarily so bad for the Greens. They are the only party of the current government that has not lost a massive amount of votes. They have more or less maintained their position, so not good, but not bad either.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

The Greens did very well given the amount of shit thrown at them. SPD and FDP did worse

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Note, currently BSW and FDP are both below 5 percent which means they won't get into the Bundestag which drastically changes the number of seats the other parties get. As long as they don't go over 5 % a coalition between the Union and SPD is possible.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's the goal, isnt it? Otherwise it will become another turmoil coalition

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I had some hope for a Union + Greens coalition but it doesn't look like that will be possible.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

SΓΆder pretty much declared the Greens their main enemy. I don't think there'll be a coalition of CDU/CSU and Green in the Bundestag until CxU declares a new main enemy (why not AfD?).

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm sorry my dear Europeans πŸ™ˆπŸ˜₯

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's not that bad. There is a "firewall" around the AfD, so a coalition with the CDU isn't possible.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago

Dude, that "firewall" was set ablaze weeks ago by the CDU...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No worries ppl. It can only get worse!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Worst possible outcome right now: BSW gets just enough votes to make it into parliament.

This results in an unstable government, since CDU/CSU and the expected partner SPD don't have enough seats, with no one willing to help form the government. New elections are called shortly after.

BSW can destroy parliament by simply existing (well, the voters who put us in this situation with so much AFD), and the only hope is that we throw out all their votes when they don't reach 5%. I don't think it's likely, but it is possible.

EDIT: BSW didn't make it, a boring stable, yet slightly right wing, government for us.

load more comments
view more: next β€Ί