Germany is also seen as wavering in punishing Russia for the invasion. Members of the European Union say Germany is trying to block decisions to boycott Russian energy imports, on which Germans are so dependent.
Mr. Scholz was also criticized for sending the foreign minister on a state visit to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, instead of going on his own.
A recent poll found that almost two-thirds of Germans do not see Mr Scholz as a strong leader, and from well-respected newspapers to Germany’s buzzy Bild, commentators have seen the results. Sunday’s election as a damning verdict for Mr. Scholz’s first six months in office. A headline in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper called the result “a vote of no confidence against the prime minister,” while Bild called it “a historic slap”.
Voter discontent does not appear to have affected one of Scholz’s coalition partners, the Greens. On Sunday, they won a big numerical victory in the previous election, improving their performance in 2017 by almost 12 percentage points. Mr. Scholz’s two most popular ministers are Greens, who appear to be driving much of the popular Ukraine policy in the coalition government. One of them, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, arrived in Kyiv last week.
The Liberal Democrats, the third coalition partner in the federal government, have not fared well in the polls, winning just under 6% of the state vote.
At 56%, voter participation is unusually low for a state election in Germany.
“It’s a test of people’s moods, showing what people think about government work at the moment,” Professor Jun said.
Voters gave the Christian Democratic Union, which lost the federal election following the retirement of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a major victory. It keeps conservatives in power in the industrial west, formerly the centerpiece of the Social Democratic Party, but it could signal a wave of change as voters go to the polls in some elections. another major state election in the coming years.
