Tell you what they might mean for chancellor Angela Merkel as she tries to form a new coalition government. And in austria Sebastian Cortes has declared victory just months after being appointed leader of the conservative Peoples Party hes promised tough new immigration policies well take you live to the. Talk of the show its great to have you with us my names sarah harmon votes are being counted in a Regional Election in the german state of lower saxony and this result could have a big influence on Coalition Talks here in berlin its been a bad night though for chancellor Angela Merkel and her christian democrats or c. D. U. But its been a good night for the social democrats lets pull up the latest projected results for you know. Now you can see there in black the city was coming in second with thirty three point seven percent of the vote the social democrats are s. P. D. There and red made some big gains there coming out on top with thirty seven point seven percent of the vote the green party is in third right now with eight point eight percent the probusiness f. D. P. Party took seven point two percent the left party took four point six percent and thats important because its not enough to clear the five percent hurdle you need to take any seats at all in parliament and then again the right wing alternative for germany took six percent clearing that five percent hurdle. So in total were talking about one hundred thirty five seats in Lower Saxony State Parliament in the city of hanover and based on the projected results were going to see the christian democrats take forty nine of those seats the social democrats will have the largest share with fifty five the greens will have thirteen seats in the house the probusiness f. D. P. Will get ten and the far right alternative for germany one of eight of the one hundred thirty five seats those results mean that the Current Coalition of the social democrats and the greens have enough seats to form another government but will they hear to talk us through some of the political wrangling thats about to happen is Thomas Sparrow from our d. W. Politics department and michele a cover who is standing by for us in Hanover Michelle lets start with you what kind of government are we likely to see here in lower saxony. Well that depends on how those results turn out in the end you just mentioned the social democrats who triumph tonight theres no other way of putting it after being so defeated in the general elections now if they indeed manage to get that one c. That seems to be shaky to form that majority and get a credible majority in lower saxony as parliament then it could be a rest so called red Green Coalition of social democrats and the green party but that really depends now on how that final count looks like and thats really what everybodys waiting here with bated breath whether this political marriage of love could take place once again here in lower saxony all that or whether it would be time to forge a Political Alliance not even of convenience but of the city all right so thats whats going on in lower saxony but lets talk about things on the National Level thomas this is kind of a blow for america her conservatives were expected to edge out the social democrats doesnt look like they managed to do that well its a bad news for the conservatives on the one hundred because as you said they did manage to finish first but it could also be even worse if as me taylor has just said they confirmed that the government of that yesterday and on the greens will be shut out of power yes exactly its important nevertheless to stress that in Regional Elections in germany you normally have regional topics at the forefront whether its education or or energy or Climate Policies or other issues as well but obviously these elections and this one in particular said the tone of the debate that happens but they are for the weeks after and but they have this particularly important now because what comes next here from the federal side is im going to michael how conservative bloc trying to form a coalition here in berlin shes likely to do so with the d. P. And greens those negotiations will start this coming. Weak but they will prove to be extremely difficult or something that we already know now even before theyve started because these parties have very different opinions on a series of issues whether its migration or climate or europe obviously there are other issues where they can find some sort of agreement for example digitalisation but they will certainly prove to be very difficult and the task that im going to michael has ahead is i would say one of the biggest of chancery trying to make sure that those Political Parties which fought against each other in the in the the election just now have to find some sort of Common Ground thats a very difficult task shes going to make friends out of enemies michelle and cooking are is whats happening there in hanover going to influence these Coalition Talks on a National Level whats your opinion well it has a psychological influence and as far as it sets the tone but if indeed there was a necessity for some kind of complicated arrangement that would involve the green party well the left party is not in the parliament now so that rules that one out that would have complicated things a lot but it really gives the social democrats a bit of a boost and its sets a psychological impetus that basically says look what happened to the social democrats in those general elections can happen the other way around to. See to you party as well which has not suffered significant losses here but it really did come down a far way from those opinion polls just a couple weeks ago which would be sort way ahead so a climb down is possible both at the regional level and in berlin i think the german chances like to take a very pragmatic approach her job of forging a coalition as thomas mentioned was going to be complicated by the way all right complicated either way thats michelle a couple reporting for us from hanover and Thomas Sparrow in our studios thanks for being with us both of you. That is not the only election that we are tracking for you this sunday austria is set to get a new chancellor as conservative Sebastian Cortes claimed victory after snap elections the thirty one year old is about to become europes youngest government leader after a campaign in which he promised to clamp down on immigration now court is expected to go into government with the far right Freedom Party which actually looks set to come in a close third after the governing social democrats and the vote marks a swing to the right in austria after decades of centrist governments and in a speech after the vote courts said change is on the way so theres a lot to do with this distribution new Political Party in this country when this forge a new culture our task is also to Work Together for the country. Most of all we have to change the country for the better. And want to share with you the latest results from that election with ninety six percent of the votes counted in austria heres how things stand the conservative Peoples Party led by sebastian course to you just saw our polling at thirty one point seven percent the interesting thing is the race for second place there the far right Freedom Party have twenty six percent and that puts them behind the social democrats who are led by austrias current chancellor Kristen Kerin they have twenty six point nine percent to less than one percent difference separating those two parties for second place then you can see some of the smaller parties of liberal neos have five point one percent there are big losses there for the greens there are three point nine percent peter post says list that was a party founded by a former greens lawmaker has four point three percent and remember a party needs at least four percent of the vote in austria in order to secure seats in parliament. All right well to make sense of all this lets cross over to vienna where our correspondent max hoffman is on the story for us max what can we expect from a chancellor sebastian courts Going Forward are changes going to be on the way. Well first of all he needs to figure out with whom you want to form a coalition theres a crew your front runner of the Freedom Party because many have said that beforehand you could tell by the way this campaign was run and he has repeatedly said that he wasnt happy with the way the grand coalition have worked the last ten years so many experts most journalists of where we are here in vienna expect this actually to happen a turquoise Blue Coalition between the Freedom Party and the Peoples Party where its a bust and courts is the head how that translates into policy is a different story both wanted radically different way of treating immigration in austria of us and courts already made that clear when he was Foreign Ministers but how does this translate into actual policy for example economically what do they tend to do socially all this was rather vague during the campaign of sebastian courts and well have to clarify that when he negotiates his coalition ive said to be a very close race looking at those numbers between a social democrats and the far right Freedom Party did that take you by surprise max someone has been watching us election quite closely. For the second place well i mean the social democrats did a little better than many thought they would do maybe under the influence of what happened in germany through the social democrats and also in other European Countries social democracy that has had a hard time now here you have someone who won slightly not as much as the right parties not as much as the austin Peoples Party or the Freedom Party but at least he didnt get worse so thats why we have this position where the Freedom Party is slightly behind the social democrats but i think we shouldnt forget here that this is by far the best result of the right wing populous have ever had in a National Election here in austria so no matter their second or third they are clear winners of this election. What is economy is specifically for migration youve been telling us all day how that was a huge issue in this election can we expect dramatically different migration policies. Its hard to imagine how they could dramatically change the migration policy because one of the main goals of course while he was foreign minister was to close one of the routes the western Balkans Route from syria to germany with the help of other countries he did just that now hes talking about closing the mediterranean route that leads from africa across the mediterranean italy up to austria that has been well not completely caused because after all its the mediterranean but you have many much less migrants coming through there because of what italy is doing than beforehand so hollywood radically change migration policy isnt entirely clear its probably also another chapter in the story what you say on the campaign trail is different from what you do once you are in office but its clear that its not going to be easy for those who want to relocation across the European Union like germany wants and like france wants it to to another extent it isnt going to be easy easier with sebastien courts as chancellor in austria its not going to be easier i want to take a closer look now for our viewers of how exactly immigration has helped shape the selection. Thirty one year old Sebastian Cortes only became leader of the Peoples Party in may since then besides economic reform he has made immigration the cornerstone have his election campaign. And im going to strike a very clear path which is going to reduce illegal migration to zero who sets off illegally must be stopped at the border taken care of and sent back it cant be that the traffickers decide who gets through and not we as a republic or the European Union. His views echo those of the n. T. Immigration far right Freedom Party. Indiscriminate Mass Immigration from outside europe naturally islamist terror into the heart of europe. And what we have now is that through the many associations structures and mosques there is such a tenacious and dangerous structure that i say ban the radical islamic organizations mosques and kindergartens and expel their members im sure. His words found favor with austrians who fear the country is losing its National Identity could went into the election a strong favorite to be austrias next leader. But he will still need a Coalition Partner will it be the far right Freedom Party. Incumbent chancellor christiane karan of the social democrats started the Campaign Strongly but he became bogged down in internal scandals and accusations against the media that played into the hands of his opponents who are also busy trying to outdo each other on immigration control. Often is indiana for us max i understand theres still a part of a lot thats only going to be counted tomorrow tell us about but. I didnt quite catch the question im sorry could you repeat that i yes sure i understand that theres part of a vote thats only going to be counted tomorrow can you tell us a little bit more about that. Oh yeah well you have absentee ballots that are being counted as we speak and being counted throughout the week and of course you still have results coming in from the different districts in austria but the projections that we have now are quite reliable you might see a shift between second and third because its so close but its rather unlikely because the institutions in the media here take into account that the they know that business now for years what might come up with the absentee ballots i mean who can hope still are the greens for example because right now theyre below the threshold of four percent but with the absentee ballot vote they might make it just might all right well be watching that very closely max hoffman for us indiana thanks so much. And that state of the news youre up to date thanks for being with us and more coming at the top of the hours they have at. This time germany is a strong country. And we have achieved so much we can do this and if something him to resign we must overcome it in the end