COLOGNE, Germany

Cologne residents in Germany criticized the far-right Alternative for Germany party's (AfD) rise to the second-largest party in European Parliament elections as "shameful," citing low voter turnout.

Residents in Cologne who Anadolu spoke to said they were aware of the recent increase in the vote share of far-right parties but were surprised by the high vote percentages they received in other countries.

University student Leah was surprised by the election results.

"Especially the AfD members won a lot of seats. I had some hope that people would make different decisions, the results could have been different. I was shocked that the Greens lost so many seats and found it a bit funny.

"And I don't know, I think it's shameful because it somehow shows the direction Europe is heading at least on a democratic, vote-based level," she said.

Naci said: "The election results show that there is a right-wing faction in Germany. I think it is shameful that the AfD is the second-largest party. And I think you can see very clearly in their party program that they are right-wing. Especially in a multicultural and diverse city like Cologne, I think this is very sad."

Lina was "really excited to see" the implications of the results for the government and was "surprised" by the developments in "neighboring countries like France."

Katrin, a private sector employee, also expressed shock at the AfD's high vote count in Chorweiler and hopes that politicians would "respond accordingly."

University student Antonia was sad about the far-right party's high vote share in the election and expressed hope for future changes.

Christian, a company manager, was disappointed with the low turnout and suggested that "more people" should have voted.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul