this is due to every news coming to a lawyer from berlin and i'm going merrill was a fourth term reserved miss chancellor but voters also dealt a blow to the country's main parties. we've emerged as the strongest party the c.d.u. with the c.s.u.

it's now up to us to form a government and no government can be formed against us it's a positive spin despite heavy losses for her party but she wasn't the only leader left looking sheepish which over the years with the book i think i have recommended to the s.p.d. leadership that we go into the opposition. parables main challenger marching schultz conceives defeat after projected results indicate the worst ever showing for his central left social democrats. plus a triumph of the upstarts of german politics the far right alternative for germany . we have been given an electoral mandate and we will accept this electoral mandate with humility because millions of voters have given us their trust more on that and all of tonight's results with our correspondents in the studio and around the country.

i'm sarah harman welcome to d.w. special coverage of the german election americal has won a fourth term as chancellor but it has been a bruising night for the country's main parties both merkel's conservatives and the social democrats are projected to have suffered big losses meanwhile the far right are the evening's big winners let's dive in now and take a detailed look at the numbers this graph will give us the latest results as we have them these are the projected results based on vote count at one a.m. in berlin we can see there in black the conservatives have about thirty three percent of the vote at this point the s.p.d. twenty point five percent that's the central left party shown in red in pink you'll see the left party nine point two percent of the vote the greens eight point nine percent of the vote for the environmental party the pro-business f.d.p.

taking ten point seven percent the far right a day or alternative for germany currently polling at around thirteen percent old the other parties have collectively got just under five percent not enough to make it into the german bundestag and give you a quick look at how things have changed since the last german election in twenty thirteen this graph shows us clearly that the city you see as do those are miracles conservatives and the s.p.d. germany's two big mainstream parties or losers of the evening both of them losing significant support the left and the greens gaining ever so slightly but the real gains are the f.d.p. the pro-business party up about six percent and the a.f.d. up over eight percent set to enter germany's parliament for the very first time. well what does all this mean for germany and for europe for some analysis now on the head of the desk or our parliamentary studio correspondent christopher spring day is waiting to share his insights just after this piece because

a win with some disappointments for chancellor merkel's conservatives it's also been a better result for the social democrats medical center left coalition partners in the current government now both the social democrats and miracles christian democrats say they will work to win back those voters. the election night began on a high it c.d.u. headquarters then the realisation a shift in the political center ground unfolding before them heralding an end to the country's grand coalition. only merkel could lift the mood. but let's you could hide the fact this is her worst result as leader down but not out she's bracing for a historic fourth miss chancellor. in the tearless but naturally we had hoped for

a slightly better result that's totally clear. the c.d.u. and c.s.u. are the strongest parties we have a mandate to form a government and no other government can be formed against us. our challenge our martin schulze knows that too well his disappointment had been behind a white smile. or heavy weight of european politics he was a newcomer to the german scene when he joined the race in january after an initial spike in the polls the s.p.d. has struggled to gain ground on their biggest opponents. he called time on the partnership with the cd. he sent us here and i want to be clear i started this race to replace the chancellor that's also why i didn't join this current cabinet as a minister therefore i believe it is consistent and right and that's why i have recommended to the social democratic leadership that we join the opposition. out

of power and out of favor s.p.d. leaders hope that by ruling out more coalition and offering strong opposition they may yet hold their beleaguered parties decline. one place to be joined here in the studio now by christopher spring from our parliamentary studios welcome to the german political landscape seems to have shifted this evening what do you think the take away from the election center i'm going to give you three takeaways first of all chancellor merkel is paying the political price for her decision back in twenty fifteen to open up germany's borders and let in over a million refugees. many people saw that as a historic decision and she won a claim both here in germany and abroad but germany is still a country divided over that issue there are just as many people apparently who find still find that decision controversial and disagree with it so she's paying the political price for that decision. the second takeaway is we now have in the german

parliament for the first time in decades a hardline nationalist party as a result of the decision that's the second take away the third take away the social democrats germany's oldest party are facing years in the wilderness what is that germany's oldest party and historically one of the larger parties here in germany what's going on well first of all the campaign just never really gained traction they focused on social inequality that's something that is important to ten percent fifteen percent of the electorate but you're not going to win an election on its own in the longer term the the social democrats have a structural problem back in two thousand the year two thousand and thirty seven percent of german voters were blue collar workers traditional social democrat voters today that figure is just nineteen percent which is roughly by the way what the social democrats got in this election so essentially their traditional

supporter base is evaporating it's additional supporter base is an apple rating and some of that's a reading over to the f.d.a. presumably they're doing quite well poised to enter the parliament for the first time what factor they can. they will probably almost certainly change the tone of debate in germany's parliament debate will become much more per polarized much more fractious bear in mind most of the candidates the candidates that are winning seats in parliament are from the far right of the party you're going to see racists in parliament anti semites they were hard line nationalists in their ranks conspiracy theorists revisionists to boozing. to be broken left right and center the silver lining by the way that is going to mean that mainstream parties will have to work much harder to win the argument and solve people's problems all right a lot to come the times they are a changing christopher spring date thanks for breaking some of that down for us you're welcome sarah well time to take another look now at some of the hard numbers

in this election we have some graphics for you to break down what exactly is going on now germany is historically a country that has quite high voter turnout this year was no different we can take a look now at what happened with voter turnout at this election seventy six percent of germans thought it was worth taking some time out of their sunday to cast a ballot that's up about five percent from the last election in twenty third team so christopher recently asked about all these votes for the f.d.a. where did they come from after all this party wasn't in the last time around here we can see very clearly that most of these voters for the a.f.d. are coming from the conservatives they lost a million votes to the a.m.t. this time around half a million came from the s.p.d. smaller numbers from the left the greens and the f.d.a.

conservatives or really bleeding support to the f d a. we can also have a look at how germany breaks down geographically this graphic shows really nicely that the eastern part of germany historically the poorer part has a lot more support almost twice the support here for the a.f.p. you can see that in blue twenty one point two percent versus ten point seven percent in the west and again if we look at a heap map showing the a.f.d. support in the country we can see quite clearly that there will have much more support here in the east than they do either in the west or in the south the former eastern part of germany specifically this area is a stronghold for the a d. in the votes that came from that region are going to help put them in to parliament this time now earlier we caught up with one of the candidates alice vital she told us about what the party plans to do once they get to parliament take a listen. well one of the mandates of the parliament is

scrutiny of the government or the parliament the legislative has to scrutinize the executive and in recent years this is not been done and this is why we've been elected into the parliament now because without us it will no longer be possible to avoid this christian they weren't able to just rubber stamp policy through without having properly debated them in the parliament without having the parliament call for this kind of scrutiny and this just doesn't go hand in hand with democracy and one of the things that you know platform is that you want to get rid of a right to asylum which is you know right for so long for refugees in germany you want to. just get rid of it we want to know. which is also the program to see to you it was in one thousand and one and don't really know what happened it's a party that just you know i got no core anymore they had to trade their own core

values so it's absolute madness today we're calling what the c.d.u. called for thirty years ago. and you have to do this otherwise you have a situation like we have today where if you have a right to asylum that is actionable in a law that means that every sign seeker who didn't get proof can go to court and i courts are collapsing and he thousands of new judges are we are inching indo monday morning here in berlin and that means it's time to take a look at possible coalition has a look at that that's right thank you so it's. already ruled out working with all is viable and if the party in order to govern now needs to form a coalition bringing together the chancellor's most likely partners though looks to be charming and challenging well and that's putting it mildly. business

business business that's what the free democrats are all about but they are also staunchly pro european union and are now back in the parliament after four years of absence of foreign and foreign dear friends with the alternative for germany becoming the third strongest party that will fight against the european union and openly supports nationalist ideology the f.t.p. the liberal rule of law party with a european spirit will be the clearest opponent to the day. the greens traditionally cater to well educated urbanites they're the other likely candidate for the governing coalition here in the our in the it was it's just and we will accept the invitation to talk but we stick to our opinion we want to change this country we are not in politics in order to have power. and we are in politics because we want to change something we can't have a government without any ideas about how to deal with climate protection every

other option just won't work with the green party. the question of the hour is what will work for all the possible coalition partners the business focused as t.p.r. likely to struggle to find common ground with the greens pro environmental platform german chancellor angela merkel would have an easier time with one partner like the far right alternative for germany but that's a move markel and every other german party has rolled out and the day for its part has ramped up there were torkel attacks on the chancellor. was the least of which as we are clearly the third strongest party the german government whichever way it is formed should dress warmly the over here then says we will hunt them. we will hunt mrs merkel or whoever. and we will take back our country and our people again. promise is like this only underscores the

importance of the coming coalition talks. to talk about that in the studio now with me tariq i will shaadi political scientist from berlin's humbled university tarik coalition talks are always difficult but if you look at the so-called jamaica coalition between the greens the f.t.p. and the c. the uses you they seem to be impossible are the differences too big you think and so as a couple of people have said today it's a long way to jamaica but i think in the end this will be the governing coalition for the next four years and america has quite some experience now with forging coalitions and i think this is these parties will come together in the end specially everything that we've heard and seen today they really signaled that they are going to do it they want to do it and in the end the supporters will likely come around especially for the smaller parties when there will be concrete policies where the party leaders can come back from the negotiations and say if we're in government this is what you're going to get if you're not in government you want it

looks like the under machall c.d.u. even though the strongest partner in this they will be the junior partner in these coalition talks with the two king makers the greens and the liberals. as always with under them i think we shouldn't underestimate her again in these coalitions they are by far the lot of the largest party and i think she will she will like that central central position in the negotiations and in the end the f.t.p. wants to govern through this is what what their party set out to do and also the greens haven't been in government since two thousand and five so the two smaller parties to have a big interest in in governing and maybe shaping the politics in the next four years but do you think they really can agree the greens and the f.c.p. the liberals as so far apart on so many issues how do they sweeten the deal for their party membership i mean the way both parties have can paint is really focusing on their own particular needs so for the s.t.p. this is me because in this campaign and also for the greens they have strongly

focused on in environmental issues so if they come back from the negotiations with concrete policy proposals on the environment i think they can sell this to their and to their party supporters. unlimited really does not have any other options what happens if these talks fail so they always have the threat of having a new election which most people involved would not like to see which might likely strengthen the even further and also then i know america has a point to say if you don't vote for me then there will be not there won't be a stable government there are other options like minority governments but i think it's especially with unlikely that we'll see something like a minority government it will be a very exciting period. tarik thank you very much for coming to the studio today guess it's back to south thank you so much hard. all the rest of europe has been watching this election closely and earlier i asked our brussels bureau chief max hoffman if it will be business as usual once there's

a new governing coalition in berlin. it really depends on the coalition but if it really happens to be to make a coalition then of course here in brussels people are alluding very closely especially one party in that coalition which will be the liberals the f.d.p. because they have voiced criticism harsh criticism you could say about some of the plans that the new french president among whom i call has put forward for us and foremost a euro zone budget and there's even a story that's been transported in french media where they say that my call behind closed doors has said if the f.t.p. is part of the german government then i am done that might be a little exaggerated but still yes there is anxiety and some even say what was starting to be the german french engine again might be in danger ok max what about merkel herself she's been a strong leader for europe but she's lost a lot here at home can she is to look spec to hold that position on the european

stage she still the chancellor and the chancellor of the most powerful economy in the european union and so there is built in leadership there the question of course is what kind of wiggle room this you have what will she be able to do within that coalition she might not be able as i just said to follow mccraw as much as she would like to keeping that in mind she's still the most seasoned most experienced politician leader in the european union and that has to count for something now right what about the i.a.f. days influence in german politics i think that's going to make things harder on european level. well indirectly maybe of course if he won't be part of any german government but they have one within the strict anti immigration courts that have won many votes and you know what's happening to germany and has happened in many other european countries before just think of france with the money in the pen in some countries the right wing populist or even power for example hungary with their

prime minister viktor orban and you know it's not inconceivable to think that he will go up to merkel next i mean caesars see told you so told just so better words there are right max hoffman thanks for giving us the view from brussels the same thing well let's take a look at how this is all going down in moscow for that i'm joined by our shadow euro have we seen a reaction to this election from moscow yet hi sara we don't have any official reaction yet to what we do know is what the people in the streets of moscow are saying and to most of those who we talked to say that they are satisfied with the main result of that under medical one of these elections and they argue that the german chancellor stands for stability that only in germany but also for stability in the german russian relationship it's might sound a bit strange but is that russians who we talked to don't necessarily approve of all him policies but they seem to respect him anyway keeping

a critical distance though especially regarding the right wing party that is now getting into the german parliament so let's listen what to people in moscow told us . the f.t. got sent to parliament so obviously the german people and they need to be listened to but they want to see the right wing party that's another thing that history and great and we know how that turned out in the court so they need to be careful yet when they. anything new hasn't been tried out yet so it's an experiment and no one ever knows how experiments will end up with so many people into the country it's hard to believe it's awful she must go. to lection will stabilize the relationship with russia. my hope for a friendly relations with germany for relations to be restored. both of our countries really need that. i'm glad that merkel won she is a strong leader and is leading germany on the right path. if michael's chancellor

now the nothing new will happen it will be the same old song the same old relations with nothing good will come of it over warrants and voices there from moscow now russia has supported the f.t. in the past year or do you think russia is getting what it once now with this election result. well is that i think it's too simple to say moscow wants to disrupt the german government as much as possible thanks to the yes everybody here realizes that the right to being if the party's political force to be reckoned with and to get the russians have recently had to direct contact through the d. but you can't say the russians have been the only talking to the russian president vladimir putin met with the german the foreign ministers of the gabriele he also welcome to the bavarian state from your seat over and last but not least he received the chancellor angela merkel at the hague somehow us in sochi so fundamentally what russians want is dialogue to be heard to be recognized as an

equal equal partner and yes russians are ultimately interested in a strong germany because of the very strong german russian economic and trade relations they might be now satisfied that if america has to change their policies but if they do recognize who arguably is the most influential politician in europe ok that miracle isn't likely to drop or support for sanctions against russia after the election how do you think the kremlin will react. well if the un soviet space in contrast to other western european countries russians understand germany is a german mentality is close to the russian of on a lot of ways and sometimes russians joke joke that if they start a new life or give up of the bad habits of their rational thinking and become just a little more hard to be working they would certainly become almost like a german but for some reason started this new life doesn't quite work in general germany is very popular here german cars german culture german beer but what isn't

popular is the german sanctions against russia e.u. sanctions against russia supported by germany and everybody knows until america will stick to them so yes everybody here is of course unhappy with the situation and would like and get american to change it as soon as possible and many hope she will all right yuri brush is a big country it's got a lot going on but in general how important is the german election to most russians really. well it was very very interesting how the russian to t.v. for example didn't cover the election campaign as too boring it understood understandable for russians but now it's very important and it's headline here is america one this is a multi most important result and as i said the russians seem to be satisfied with this result and recognized america as the german chancellor once again for the fourth time all right that's the view from moscow yury rich shadow thanks for

a look. you're watching date on the news coming to you live from berlin our coverage continues at the top of the hour but don't forget you can always get the latest election updates on our web site that's dot com we'll leave you now some images of the winners and losers of germany's big night. guys.

elect. election victory number four. until america remains germany's chancellor. political career began in one thousand nine hundred nine when the berlin wall fell

and unforeseen a monster. from physicists to the most powerful woman in the world until america a fortress. next to the. w.'s program guide on the internet the highlights with the whole. w dot com highlights. the details in seventeen beethoven sest gone from september eighth to october first . she's long been

a symbol of hope in syria. i try to help people a smile a sign does she stand for change. or the false facade of her husband's rule of time thanks. he believes in what the syrian regime is doing and believes in this. projection that that they are saving syria must my son the futile face of the dictatorship starting october first on d w. even when she's in the limelight uncle america's never keen on taking center stage the german chancellor prefers to avoid the public displays of power enjoyed by many of her contempt.