Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.
It was another brutal setback for Olaf Scholz and his embattled coalition. The far-right and extreme left took more than 60% of the vote in the eastern state of Thuringia and half in Saxony. The Alternative for Germany scored the first victory for a far-right party in a German state ballot since World War II — although it’s still unlikely any other parties will allow them to form a government. Scholz’s three-way coalition, meanwhile, was crushed, with the parties pulling in less than 15% combined in each state. With another regional ballot in Brandenburg three weeks from now expected to bring a similar result, a major turnaround will be needed to avoid disaster in national elections due in just over a year.