Two east German states have begun casting votes today, with the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) poised to win a state election for the first time. AfD’s win would mark the first time a far-right party has the most seats in a German state parliament in nearly a century.
The ongoing foreign policy issues, including Russia’s war with Ukraine, are playing a role in the state elections of Thuringia and Saxony.
Opinion polls have indicated that the AfD is ahead in Thuringia and a close second in Saxony. Another party, the far-left BSW, is also getting a strong upstart, the opinion polls showed.
The elections come just over a week after three people were stabbed to death in a suspected Islamist attack in the city of Solingen, sparking anti-immigration sentiment in Germany.
“Our freedoms are being increasingly restricted because people are being allowed into the country who don’t fit in,” the AfD’s leader in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, said, as per Reuters.
Both AfD and BSW, which are critical of the European Union and have an anti-immigration stance, have a stronghold in the former Communist-run East Germany. The two parties have also voiced criticism for the current government in Germany and the military aid it gives to Ukraine.
In both states, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party, Social Democrats, are polling at around 6 per cent, while their coalition partners, the Greens and the liberal FDP, lag further behind.
Rise of the far-right
AfD was created in 2013 as an anti-euro group before it became an anti-immigration party.
In the European Union Parliament elections that took place in June, the party scored a record 15.9 per cent overall.
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) was created in January this year after she quit Die Linke. Like AfD, Ms Wagenknecht and her party have a supportive stance towards Russia. BSW garnered around 6 per cent of the German vote in June’s EU Parliament elections. The party is expected to win up to 12-20 per cent in today’s polling, potentially putting it in a kingmaker position in both states.
“I especially like her stance on the Ukraine war, we can’t simply keep delivering weapons,” BSW supporter Carola Gustavus said as per Reuters. “One has to negotiate even with the worst opponent,” she added.
