Voters in Germany’s eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony are set to cast their ballots in elections where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to perform strongly. In Thuringia, the AfD has been leading in the polls ahead of Sunday’s vote, while in Saxony, the party is in a close race for first place with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and its coalition partners have been struggling, showing weak poll results in both states. The situation is particularly dire for the SPD in Thuringia, where the party and its Green and Liberal coalition partners might fail to secure even a single seat in the state parliament.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered in Erfurt, the regional capital of Thuringia, to denounce the AfD as a fascist party. The AfD, which is officially classified as a right-wing extremist group in Thuringia, has been campaigning on an anti-immigrant platform, arguing that Germany needs to expel illegal migrants. The party’s controversial regional leader, Björn Höcke, was recently fined for allegedly using a Nazi slogan, a charge he denies.
In Saxony, the AfD is competing with the CDU for the top spot. The recent knife attack in western Germany, where a Syrian asylum seeker and suspected Islamist allegedly killed three people, has intensified criticism of the government’s handling of migration, potentially boosting support for the AfD.
Even if the AfD emerges as the largest party in both states, it is unlikely to take power, as other political parties have ruled out any collaboration with it. Nonetheless, the results of these elections will be closely watched as a possible indicator of the political climate ahead of Germany’s federal elections in 2025.
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