Reactions to the forecast "Will hunt them down": AfD leader Weidel threatens parties after election

Germany is electing a new Bundestag. According to initial forecasts, the CDU/CSU will win the election, the AfD will double its 2021 result and Chancellor Scholz's SPD will be punished. These are the first reactions.

Friedrich Merz addresses the CDU/CSU ranks in the Konrad Adenauer House. He thanks various people - and first and foremost CSU leader Markus Söder for the "great cooperation."

Merz emphasizes that he is aware of the difficult task that now lies ahead of him. "But nobody out there is waiting for us, we have to get back on the world stage. Germany is now reliably governed again." Merz thanked the population: "Now we're going to make a racket - and then we'll get to work tomorrow."

CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann is also clear: "The Union has won the election". The people wanted a change in policy and "there will be one". It is important that the "depression gets out of the country. That is possible, please." Germany now needs a stable government, he said on ARD.

Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) is pleased with the "good result" from Bavaria. He reaffirmed the CSU's rejection of a coalition with the Greens. "There will be no policy change with the Greens," said Dobrindt. They are not needed for a coalition.

"We have been able to double our numbers, which is a historic success," says AfD leader Alice Weidel. The hand is outstretched and the party is open to coalition negotiations. There is no need for major compromises for the CDU/CSU coalition. "The CDU has effectively written off our election program," she told ARD. In future, they will now "agree to sensible proposals from the CDU/CSU" and: "We will hound the other parties to make sensible policies for our country."

Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the AfD parliamentary group together with Alice Weidel, said on ARD: "The voters have given us a very clear vote. We have doubled in size." He also interpreted the result - particularly in eastern Germany - as a very clear sign against the firewall proclaimed by Friedrich Merz. It corresponds to the will of the voters that "the AfD should be heard more politically".

He repeated the words of party leader Alice Weidel to Merz: "Our hand is outstretched." If Merz wants to implement his election promises, he can only achieve this together with the AfD. In dealing with the AfD, something must now change both politically and in the media in Germany.

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"This is a bitter election result and a clear defeat," said Chancellor Olaf Scholz to his supporters. "We must now move forward together." Scholz emphasizes that he takes responsibility for the poor election result and congratulates Friedrich Merz on his victory. He then addresses the AfD. "I will never accept the fact that such a party gets such election results."

SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch also emphasized on ZDF: "This is a historic defeat for the SPD." It was a very bitter evening. He congratulated CDU leader Friedrich Merz and the CDU/CSU for the government mandate. The traffic light had been voted out. It was clear that there was a government mandate for Merz. Negotiations would then have to be based on the final result. Whether the SPD would then be responsible for the government, "there is no automatism at all", said Miersch.

Franziska Brantner, Federal Chairwoman of the Greens, put the expected losses into perspective on ARD: "We have emerged from one of the most unpopular governments in this Federal Republic and have fought our way to the top." With a view to possible coalition options, it is still too early to rule anything out.

And Brantner uses the opportunity to make a statement to the designated election winner Friedrich Merz: "We need a chancellor who unites, not divides." Merz's decision to accept the votes of the AfD for a vote had divided the country and polarized it further.

Heidi Reichinnek, joint lead candidate of the Left Party with Jan van Aken, is delighted with her party's performance. "I am so incredibly happy about our result," she said on ARD. It was the right decision to focus on social issues. They will continue to stand up for affordable housing and a fair tax system in the future.

Jan van Aken is also pleased with the result: "I always believed that the Left Party would return to the Bundestag. But I am surprised by the extent of the result," he told ARD.

The Left Party has recently experienced an unexpected upswing in the polls, which has now been confirmed in the first projections. Nevertheless, van Aken says: "To be honest, I think we would have done even better if we had voted normally next September. But with over 8 percent, you can't complain."

The FDP still has to tremble about reaching the five percent hurdle and thus remaining in the Bundestag. For FDP deputy leader Wolfgang Kubicki, the Liberals "have not managed to win back trust". The "majority of our voters struggled with the role of the FDP in the traffic light". They had fallen short of expectations. With a view to future coalitions, should the FDP enter the Bundestag after all, he said on ARD: "I can rule that out for my party: Jamaica will not happen in Berlin." Jamaica is the name given to a coalition of the CDU/CSU, FDP and Greens.

"We will still have to tremble," says BSW chancellor candidate Sahra Wagenknecht to the party members. "Regardless of the outcome, we have a great election campaign to thank for the fact that we are where we are at the moment," she adds.

Ralph Suikat, Treasurer of the BSW, was delighted with the result in an interview with ARD: "Never before has a party managed to get into the Bundestag at the first attempt." At the moment, it looks as if the BSW will "score a huge success" in the Bundestag elections.

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