Far right causes political earthquake in east, weakens Scholz

Germany’s far right is asserting itself as a major force after record results in two regional elections in eastern Germany, further weakening Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition a year ahead of legislative elections.

‘Without the AfD, there will be no more politics’Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the anti-immigration party, which won an unprecedented victory on Sunday, warned against taking a pro-Russian stance.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has emerged as the dominant political force in Thuringia, following the conservatives in Saxony, two former East German states.

The far-right party immediately claimed to be leading the region with 32.8% of the vote, according to provisional results.

The party’s Thuringia leader Björn Höcke, one of the most radical figures in the party, said he was “ready to cooperate” but no other party was willing to form an alliance with him.

In the region that first brought the Nazis to power in 1932, the AfD could have a minority block that could, in particular, block the appointment of judges.

The Daily Mirror said “Political Earthquake in the East”published in the Süddeutsche Zeitung ‘The Democratic results were shocking’.

In addition to the AfD, voters also supported the newly formed BSW party, which is very toxic towards immigrants and calls for an end to arms shipments to Ukraine. The party, formed before the election around radical leftist figure Sahra Wagenknecht, received 11.8% of the vote in Saxony and 15.8% in Thuringia.

Give Scholz a slap

In Saxony, the AfD is ahead by seven percentage points (30.6%) and in second place behind the conservative CDU (31.9%), which again ruled out a coalition with the far right but will struggle to secure a majority in the Dresden regional parliament.

Hungarian nationalist Viktor Orban praised the success of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): “German states have sent a message to Brussels and Berlin: no immigration, no gender, no war””, commented the Prime Minister’s political director Balazs Orban (no relation).

The performance in these regions, where the far right has taken root over the past decade, represents a new setback for the three parties of the ruling coalition, the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals, ahead of legislative elections in September 2025.

They were severely beaten by the conservative opposition and the far right in June’s European elections.

Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats had their worst result in the regional election in Thuringia, with an estimated score of 6.1%. Saxony also fared worse than five years ago, at 7.3%.

The regional elections on September 22 in Brandenburg, the region surrounding Berlin, currently led by the Social Democrats, are enough to make people fear the worst.

The government is paying the price for the dissatisfaction of parts of public opinion, which are caused by inflation or the ecological transition that the government is trying to implement under the leadership of the Green Party. Constant disputes within this tripartite team only increase its unpopularity.

“This is a very big slap in the face for the government in general and Scholz in particular”Marianne Knull, professor of political science at the Technical University of Dresden, told AFP.

Fragmentation

In addition to the rout announced by the polls, an attack in Solingen (west) at the end of August that left three people dead. The alleged perpetrator was a 26-year-old Syrian refugee who should have been deported, which once again sparked the debate about immigration.

The Greens left the Thuringian state parliament after failing to reach the necessary 5% threshold. They barely managed to hold on in Saxony.

The surprising breakthrough of the BSW party, which seeks to combine left-wing economic policies with conservatism on social issues such as immigration and the environment, has deepened the divisions in the political landscape.

He will play the role of kingmaker in forming the regional government. The results could have repercussions far beyond the region’s borders, with Sahra Wagenknecht demanding that the state government reject plans to deploy U.S. intermediate-range missiles in Germany in exchange for any alliance.