The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) said the results of the elections in Thuringia and Saxony are not only a signal for change in direction in the states, but also on the federal level.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU)’s Friedrich Merz congratulated his party’s candidates, writing that achieving their results under difficult circumstances is a great success.

Daniela Schwarzer, an executive board member at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, has an interesting analysis of the foreign policy dimension of yesterday’s state elections.

“There is a high chance that both regions will get a CDU led government,” she wrote.

“BSW has set out conditions for coalescing w/ the CDU in Thuringia or Saxony: Wagenknecht wants regional governments to support immeditate negotiations between Russia & Ukraine instead of delivering arms to Ukraine, and refuses the deployment more US medium-range missiles in Germany,” Schwarzer noted.

She added:

The influence of Länder governments on foreign & defence policy is arguably limited. And yet the effect of this strategic move of BSW may be huge: It may split the Christian Democrats, Germany’s largest opposition party and to date supporter of Ukraine, down the middle.

Here’s the seat allocation in Saxony, where the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) took the most seats, followed closely by the far right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

‘A dark day for Germany is a dark day for Europe’: European liberals react to German state elections

Similarly to countries like the United States, Germany’s 16 states have considerable powers.

While the federal government is responsible for foreign affairs and defence, states play a role in policymaking in areas ranging from education to policing and health care.

The states have their own parliaments and coalition governments.

Here’s an explainer from the German Bundestag:

The Federal Republic of Germany is a federal state made up of 16 constituent states – the Länder. Accordingly, there are federal laws that apply for the whole territory of the Federation, and Land laws that only have validity in the Land in question.

Land laws may not conflict with federal laws. Article 31 of the Basic Law states that “Federal law shall take precedence over Land law.” This is intended to ensure that, as far as possible, “equitable living conditions” prevail throughout the federal territory.

The legislative competencies of the Federation and the Länder are regulated in detail by the Basic Law. Articles 71 to 74 list the legislative powers of the Federation. In all other cases, the Länder are responsible.

Exclusive legislation

In the fields subject to the exclusive legislation of the Federation, the Länder only have the power to adopt legislation where they are expressly empowered to do so by a federal act.

The Federation holds exclusive legislative competence in the following fields: all foreign policy issues, defence, including the protection of the civil population, citizenship, currency and money, the unity of the customs and trading area and cooperation between the Federation and the Länder concerning criminal police work.

Concurrent legislation

In fields subject to concurrent legislation, the Länder have the right to adopt legislation provided and in so far as the Federation makes no use of its legislative powers in the same field. The Federation has the right to adopt legislation in these fields provided it is intended to establish equitable living conditions in the federal territory or maintain Germany’s legal and economic unity. Civil law, criminal law, the prison system, road traffic, the law of association and assembly, the law relating to the residence and establishment of foreign nationals, business law, consumer protection and the benefits granted to members of the public service are all among the fields subject to concurrent legislation.

Here is the seat distribution in the Thuringia state parliament following yesterday’s election.

The far right won the most seats.

‘The AfD is damaging Germany’, German chancellor says as far-right leads in Thuringia

Deborah Cole

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