German Social Democrats: Elections 'not an evening to celebrate'

The general secretary of Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Kevin Kühnert, acknowledged his party's mediocre expected performance in a pair of state parliamentary elections on Sunday.

It was "not an evening to celebrate for the SPD," Kühnert said on television shortly after exit polls projected the party to finish in the single digits in the states of Saxony and Thuringia.

At the same time, Kühnert noted that the SPD - the party of current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz - has struggled for years in both states, which are located in the former communist East Germany.

"There was a real danger of being thrown out of the state parliaments," said Kühnert, referring to polls which put the SPD near the 5% threshold needed to take seats in German elections.

"It's worth fighting, we are needed," he said. "We have to fight to regain more strength."