In both states in eastern Germany - which has become a stronghold of the far right - other parties have refused to cooperate with the AfD, meaning it is unlikely to form part of any new state governments. Nevertheless, the victory in Thuringia in particular would be seen as highly symbolic.
Deemed an extremist organization by domestic intelligence in three German states, and under investigation by national authorities for Islamophobia and its radical anti-migrant stances, the AfD has managed to overcome deep-seated taboos over nationalist politics.
For the first time since World War II, we have a far-right party coming in first place in an election here in Germany. So that is quite significant. The mainstream parties have to realize that the [AfD] is here to stay.
Projections showed the centrist parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's national governing coalition - the center-left Social Democrats, the Green Party and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP)- struggling with single-digit backing in both states.
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