Landtag elections in Germany as an indicator of federal party and political trends

Abstract

In March and May 2022, landtag elections were held in western German states of Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, with results largely reflecting the developments at federal level: growing popularity of Union 90/Die Grünen, ongoing rivalry between SPD and CDU, FDP's fight for seats in regional parliaments and continuation of crisis processes in „Left“ and „Alternative for Germany“ parties. For the first time in election campaign of the two states, foreign policy played an important role, namely the factor of Ukraine. The author analyzes results of the elections and assesses their impact on federal party and political processes in Germany.