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Russian lawmaker calls German election outcome ‘predictable’

On September 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc won the polls, securing 33% of the vote
German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union CDU in Berlin AP Photo/Michael Sohn
German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union CDU in Berlin
© AP Photo/Michael Sohn

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. The outcome of Sunday’s elections to the lower house of German parliament, the Bundestag, was predictable, a senior Russian State Duma lawmaker, Leonid Slutsky, said on Monday.

"The outcome of elections to Germany’s Bundestag was very predictable - both the victory of Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc and the election to the parliament of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party. The latter was not a sensation for me personally, although the AfD leaders call their result an earthquake for Germany," said Slutsky, who chairs the International Affairs Committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament.

The polls signal the overall crisis in Europe linked to the social and economic situation and the problems arising from the unprecedented migrant flows. "The Alternative for Germany is a counterpart for France’s National Front, which against this background received its highest percentage in the party’s history at the elections in the Fifth Republic," he said.

Europe is searching for "a new idea that may return the freedom of choice for Europeans and independence from policy of the big overseas brother," the lawmaker stressed.

Slutsky voiced hope that "this German parliament will work constructively and without any contradictions." "For our part, the State Duma will try to boost cooperation with the Bundestag and look for new approaches for cooperation," he vowed.

On Sunday, Germany held parliamentary elections. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc won the polls, securing 33% of the vote, according to the official preliminary results published by Germany’s Federal Returning Officer Dieter Sarreither overnight.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) comes second with 20.5% of the vote, the worst result in its history. The right-wing Alternative for Germany party will for the first time enter the Bundestag, with 12.6% of the vote.