With 11,9 % (provisional official result) DIE LINKE achieved a real historical result: For the first time  in the existence  of the Federal Republic of Germany a party left from the  Social Democrats gained more than 10% of support from the voters.
Beside the National Elections to the Bundestag also two further regional elections took place in Germany: in Schleswig Holstein DIE LINKE  is represented in the regional Parliament for the first time ( and that is the 6th Landtag in the Western part of Germany DIE LINKE is entering) while in Brandenburg the party defended its second place (27,2%) and became again the influential political force next to the Social Democrats.
EL  president Lothar Bisky, also co-chair of DIE LINKE, expressed the will and political position that his party will  continue to be the partner of all    extra  parliamentarian forces striving for a social, sustainable and democratic development in Germany an a peaceful foreign and security policy in the Bundestag. The now conservative - (neo)liberal majority in the Bundestag needs a consequent and powerful opposition both in  and outside the Parliament.  In Portugal Bloco de Esquerda won 9, 85% (provisional official result) of the votes and doubled their mandates. And also here these figures characterize the ever best result in national elections. 
Taking into account  the results achieved by  the Coalition of the Communist Party  and  the Greens (CDU) - which got 7,88% (again only provisional official result) - the left in Portugal won nearly 18% of the votes in total. These encouraging results demonstrate: the Left in Europe is able to put forward attractive social  alternatives  to the neo-liberal model.
But here as well as in all other EU and European countries, where still a conservative and liberal majority of various political forces is governing, the task remains: Lets take the challenges - we can and must change Europe -  in and outside  Parliaments, in various fields of political responsibility the voters are  giving to the left. Indeed, these challenges have to picked up by the European Left.