German Chancellor Olaf Scholz admitted his frustration with the election results in two provinces of the country, which marked major victories for the far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AzG).
He described the losses for his coalition as "bitter" and called on the main parties to form governments without "right-wing extremists".
As a reminder, the AfD became the first far-right party to win a parliamentary election in Germany since World War II with its result in the weekend vote in Thuringia. She came in second behind the conservatives in Saxony, forecasts showed late on Sunday.
The results were expected, as the sociological polls conducted before the vote predicted this.
But AzG, considered a "right-wing extremist" of security officials in the two East German states, is unlikely to be able to govern as other parties have so far refused to cooperate with her to form a majority.
Still, she can get enough seats to block decisions requiring a two-thirds majority, such as the appointment of judges or top security officials, giving her unprecedented power.
"The results in Saxony and Thuringia are worrying," Scholz said in a statement to Reuters. He clarified that he was speaking as an MP from his center-left Social Democratic Party. Our country cannot and should not get used to this. AzG harms Germany. It weakens the economy, divides society and ruins the reputation of our country."
With a year to go before Germany's national elections, Sunday's results punished Scholz's fractured coalition, potentially exacerbating infighting.
All three ruling parties lost votes, with only his GSDP successfully overcoming the 5% threshold needed to remain in both countries' parliaments.
"The results of Sunday's election are bittersweet - for us too," said Scholz. But he noted that the more dire predictions that the GSDP could drop out of parliament did not come true.
The junior coalition partners dropped out of the Thuringian state assembly.
Sunday's results could also put pressure on the government to be tougher on immigration and heighten the debate over support for Ukraine, issues that have dominated the campaign.