The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party showed the best result in the state elections in Thuringia, receiving 32.8% of the vote.
This is evidenced by the preliminary official results of the vote, published by ARD on the morning of Monday, September 2.
In Saxony, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) received the most votes with 31.8%. But the AfD was only a small second with 30.8%. In third place in both states was the left-wing populist party “Sahra Wagenknecht Union” (SWV), founded in January 2024.
These regional elections in three eastern German states – Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg (to be held on September 22) – could have a serious impact on Germany, experts say.
The trend is the same: support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party is growing rapidly. Voters do not think that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (responsible for internal security) has classified the AfD as “confirmed right-wing extremist”, and that the party’s leading candidate, Björn Hecke, even paid a fine for using Nazi slogans.
Since World War II, no far-right party in Germany has won first place in an election. In some Western European countries, far-right populist parties have won victories and even formed governments in the last decade. Given Germany’s history in the 20th century, the symbolism of the situation is particularly worrying, writes Radio Liberty.
But in parallel with the far-right parties, the far left is also doing well. The newly founded Sahra Wagenknecht Union (SWU) is also doing well. Its leader is critical of immigration and is against the “green” policy. In many ways, her views are quite similar to those of the AfD. Both parties are Eurosceptics, are against NATO, are critical of the refugee issue in Germany, support relations with Russia and are against military support for Ukraine. And together, the AfD and the SWU received almost half of the votes in the two states.
Who voted for AdN?
This Tagesschau chart shows that the majority of those who voted for the AdN were young men without a higher education and with poor financial circumstances.
For the left-wing coalition ruling in Berlin, the results of the vote in eastern Germany did not come as a surprise, but they were the second serious blow after the unsuccessful European Parliament elections in May, writes DW. Left-wing liberal parties are losing their already weak positions in eastern Germany, while the right and especially the far right are getting stronger.
Olaf Scholz called the election results in Thuringia and Saxony “bitter” and called on political forces to form coalitions in state parliaments without the AfD in order to prevent right-wing populists from entering government in the states.
Our country cannot and should not get used to this. The ADN is damaging Germany. It weakens the economy, divides society and destroys the reputation of our country, the German Chancellor is convinced.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.