Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won the election in the eastern German state of Thuringia with 30.5 per cent of the vote, according to Euractiv.
Nearly five million people voted for new parliaments in the eastern German states of Saxony and Thuringia on Sunday. The centre-right CDU party won 24.5 per cent of the vote, ahead of the new BSW party with 16 per cent.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD (S&D) won 7 per cent, while their national coalition partners, the Greens and FDP, failed to garner enough votes to be represented in the next parliament.
In Saxony, the Conservatives scored a modest victory. The CDU, led by Michael Kretschmer, secured a minor victory with 31.5 per cent of the vote and ahead of the AfD with its 30 per cent. The BSW also came third in Saxony with 12 per cent of the vote.
The two states were part of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). National issues, including the war in Ukraine and migration policy, dominated election campaigns, especially after the Islamist attack in the West German city of Solingen on 23 August.
