Germany's Green surges, Union and SPD slumps

Germany's Greens made a leap securing 22 percent of the votes as part of the European parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to initial prognoses by local media ARD.

The Green Party came in second place just behind Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc Christian Democratic Union(CDU)/Christian Social Union(CSU). The Greens surged more than 10 percent compared to the 2014 election.

Merkel's CDU/CSU secured 28 percent of the votes. Though kept the biggest share, the political union lost nearly 8 percent compared to five year ago.

The CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer attributed the losses to the "sometimes unconvincing work" of the government.

"The result of the election did not comply with the union's claim as a people's party." Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a press conference in Berlin.

The center-left Social Democratic Party(SPD) crashed to 15.5 percent, a sharp decrease from 27.3 percent in 2014 and an all-time low result in its party history.

Local media N-TV reported the unacceptable loss could force the party to reshuffle its leadership.

SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil referred to the outcome a "disappointing result", adding "the result can not be without consequences."

The anti-EU and anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) got 10.5 percent of the votes, increasing from the 7.1 percent of last time.

The liberal Free Democratic Party(FDP) and the Left Party (Die Linke) both achieved 5.5 percent.

The turnout rate for the election reached as high as 59 to 60 percent, a sharp rise from the 48.1 percent last time, as the vote took place in a climate of deep uncertainty about the stability of the EU in the wake of Brexit and the spread of the Eurosceptic sentiment.

Germany, with 64.8 million eligible voters, felt obliged to voice their opinions about Europe's future.