a Far-right The party won Germany’s first state elections in the east since World War Two on Sunday and is on track to come a close second to mainstream conservatives in the second round of voting.
a A new political party founded by prominent leftists The party of Prime Minister Olaf Scholz also had a major influence. Unpopular government Very weak results were obtained.
Far-right Alternatives for GermanyThe AfD (Free Democrats) won 32.8% of the vote in Thuringia, well ahead of the country’s largest opposition party, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (23.6%).
In the neighboring state of Saxony, public broadcasters ARD and ZDF forecast, with more advanced counts, that the CDU, which has led the state since German reunification in 1990, will have 31.9% support, while the AfD will have 30.6-30.7%. The AfD has made significant gains in support in Thuringia and slight gains in Saxony since the last state elections in 2019.
“For the first time since 1949, an openly right-wing extremist party is the strongest force in the state parliament, causing deep concern and fear for many people,” said Omid Nouripour, leader of the Green Party, one of the country’s ruling coalition.
Other parties say they have no intention of forcing the AfD into power by forming a coalition, but its strength could make it extremely difficult to form new state governments, forcing other parties into an unorthodox new coalition. Zahra Wagenknecht Allianceor BSW, won 15.8% of the vote in Thuringia and around 12% in Saxony, further complicating matters.
“This is a historic success for us,” AfD national co-chair Alice Weidel told ARD, describing the result as a “requiem” for Scholz’s coalition government.
“The voters in both states knew and will know that we will not form a coalition government with the AfD. We have been very clear about that,” CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann said.
Weidel called this “total ignorance” and said “voters want the AfD to be in government.”
Deep dissatisfaction with a government notorious for infighting; Anti-immigrant sentiment Skepticism about German military aid to Ukraine is one factor driving support for populist parties in the region, which is less prosperous than West Germany.
The AfD is strongest in the former Communist east and at home Intelligence agencies The party has placed its branches in Saxony and Thuringia under official surveillance as “proven right-wing extremist” groups. Thuringia’s leader, Björn Höcke, said: Convicted The deliberate use of Nazi slogans at political events is illegal, but tempting.
When the ARD interviewer mentioned the intelligence assessment, Höcke became indignant and replied: “Please don’t discriminate against me. We are the largest party in Thuringia. You don’t want to classify a third of Thuringian voters as right-wing extremists.”
He said he felt “enormous pride” in Sunday’s result for his party, now in its 11th year, and that “the older parties should show humility.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats held on to both state parliaments with at least single-digit support, but the environmentalist Greens lost their seats in Thuringia; both parties were minor coalition partners in both state governments. The federal government’s third-largest party, the pro-business Free Democrats, also lost a seat in Thuringia; they already had no seats in Saxony.
A third state election will be held on September 22 in Brandenburg, another eastern state currently led by Mr Scholz’s party. Next national election It is scheduled to be completed in just over a year.
Thuringia’s politics are particularly complex. Left Party The party, led by outgoing governor Bodo Ramelow, has struggled to make much of an electoral impact nationwide, with its support having more than halved since five years ago to 13.1%.
Zara Wagenknecht, long one of the party’s best-known figures, left last year to form her own party, which now has more support than the Left Party. Wagenknecht celebrated her party’s success, stressing her refusal to cooperate with the AfD’s Höcke and saying she hopes to form a “good government” with the CDU.
The CDU has long rejected cooperation with the Left Party, a descendant of East Germany’s ruling Communist party, and has not ruled out cooperation with the BSW, East Germany’s most powerful Wagenknecht party. But the result means that the CDU cannot form a coalition government with a majority in the Thuringian state parliament without the Left Party.
AfD is high Anti-immigrant sentiment August 23rd in this region Knife attack In the western city of Solingen, Suspected extremists The issue has returned to the top of Germany’s political agenda after a Syrian-born man was accused of killing three people, leading Prime Minister Scholz’s government to announce new restrictions on knives and new measures to ease deportations.
Wagenknecht’s BSW combines left-wing economic policies with an immigration-sceptic stance, and the CDU has also stepped up pressure on the central government. A tougher stance About immigration.
Germany’s stance Russia’s War in Ukraine It’s also a sensitive issue in the East. Berlin is Ukraine’s second largest city. Weapons Suppliers The supply of these weapons is opposed by both the AfD and the BSW, following the US. Wagenknecht also criticises the recent decision by the German government and the US to begin deploying nuclear weapons. Long-range missiles To Germany in 2026.
