Leader of German Greens: State election results mixed bag for party

The co-leader of Germany's Greens, Omid Nouripour, has expressed hope that his party may still be part of a future government in the state of Saxony, despite a projected poor showing in state elections there.

The Greens are forecast to collect 5.3% to 5.5%, barely over the 5% threshold required to receive seats in German elections, according to initial forecasts by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

Over the past five years, the Greens were part of a governing coalition led by the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) in the eastern state, and Nouripour said the coalition government had done good work.

Meanwhile, the Greens are unlikely to take any seats in parliamentary elections in the neighbouring state of Thuringia, where they are projected to fall short of the 5% threshold.

Nouripour said the Greens' projected result from Sunday's vote in Thuringia was painful, but added that he was even more worried about the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) projected to take first place.

"To be honest, my pain tonight is marginal compared to the fact that we have a profound turning point and an openly far-right party has become the strongest force in a state parliament for the first time since 1949," he said.

That year is when Germany held its first elections after the end of World War II and the defeat of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.