Elections in Germany always carry special weight because the political course of this country largely determines political currents at the European and global level. Elections held at the end of September become even more important if we take into account the current crisis caused by the corona virus pandemic, Angela Merkel’s withdrawal from the chancellor position politics after sixteen years, and the slight transformation of German party system from two-and-a-half to moderate multipartism.

CDU failed to find an adequate replacement for Merkel, and most of the campaign was wasted in internal party struggles. In addition, CDU/CSU and SPD are no longer the predominant political options and the importance of other parties is growing, whose vote must be taken into account when forming a new ruling coalition. Greens and FDP, although they have completely opposite positions on certain issues, will most likely be a part of the new ruling coalition together with SPD. The Left has suffered the worst result since its founding, while the AfD is stable with double-digit support.

How can the results of the German elections be explained? Why are the two big people’s parties no longer so dominant? What did the parties offer in their election programs? What can be expected from the traffic light of the coalition? What will be the policy of the new German government towards Serbia and the Western Balkans?

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