Yet early voter analysis shows the asylum/public security issue was key in a mass defection of voters from mainstream parties to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). After 12 years, Sunday evening was the moment the AfD shook off its reputation as an eastern German regional phenomenon to become the Bundestag’s second-largest party.

Germany may face months of uncertainty after the CDU/CSU conservative bloc won the national election but with no clear option for forming a government amid a fragmented political landscape.

The collective shunning of the AfD party is part of a longstanding attempt to blunt its move into the mainstream.