The collapse of Germany’s progressive ‘traffic light coalition’ in November 2024 triggered a snap election on February 23rd, 2025. Its outcome was a shock, but no surprise. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) doubled its vote share to 21%, and the far-left Linke party also experienced a surge in support. Conversely, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), Germany’s (former) mainstream parties, achieved their worst and second-worst post-war results respectively, creating considerable challenges for forming a stable government.
Given the ongoing economic and geopolitical pressures facing Europe, Germany’s traditional role as a pillar of stability has been called into question by the election. Understandably, this worries folks across the continent. And so the good people at Panteion and National universities in Athens, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s office in Greece and the Hellenic Political Science Association decided to organise an event focusing on the mess in Germany and were kind enough to invite me as a speaker.
What did I tell them? You can see for yourself. Here are my slides (PDF):
In the end, it was a slightly exhausting (think Athens in summer) but wonderful evening.
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