In the state elections of 2 German states including Saxony in the eastern part, the far-right party secured the top position.

Extreme right-wing Alternative for Germany party popular…difficult to resign as governor due to rejection of valid cooperation,

{AP/Newsis] Voting booth for the state parliament election in Saxony, Germany on the 1st, ‘[Berlin=AP/Newsis] Reporter Kim Jae-young = In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is seizing the opportunity to become the lead party in two eastern states as they hold elections on the 1st.’,
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, ‘Ahead of next year’s general election, there is a high possibility of a painful election result for the current government with significant declines in popularity for three parties. A new party founded by a prominent leftist politician is expected to achieve significant results in this state election.’,
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, ‘The state of Saxony in the federal republic has 3.3 million eligible voters, while Thuringia has around 1.7 million. The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Olaf Scholz has been unpopular in these former communist East German regions, and maintaining the 5% vote threshold for entry into the parliament in this state election appears challenging.’,
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, ‘Later on the 22nd of this month, the state of Brandenburg in the same eastern region will hold elections where the ruling government holds power surrounding Berlin.’,
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, ‘Alice Weidel, the co-chair of AfD, a party with an anti-immigrant stance, commented on the voting day that it would serve as a “signpost for next year’s general election.” The Alternative for Germany party, which entered the federal parliament for the first time only in the previous federal election of 2017, seized mayoral and county executive positions last year and is now presented with the opportunity to lead a state government this time.’,
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, ‘Although coalition parties seem essential to lead the state with a 30% public support rate, no party is willing to provide support for the AfD to take over the state power. Even if they cannot lead the state government, they could make it extremely difficult to form a new state government.’,
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, ‘Federal domestic intelligence agencies have labeled branches of the popular parties in these states as “proven right-wing extremist” groups and officially monitor them.’,
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, ‘Particularly, the party leader in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, has already been convicted of consciously using Nazi slogans at party events.’,
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, ‘The conservative Christian Democratic Union party, the leading opposition party in the federal government, seeks to hinder the rise of AfD in this state election in East Germany, after gaining the highest vote share in the European Union election last June. The CDU has been resistant to collaborating with the left-wing party that originated from East Germany, but has not ruled out cooperation with BSW.’,
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, ‘High support for AfD and BSW stems from significant dissatisfaction with the current government among the three main parties in the coalition.’,
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, ‘BSW, led by leftist politician Sarah Wagenknecht, combines leftist economic policies with a right-wing anti-immigrant agenda. While Germany provides significant military and financial support to Ukraine in fighting against Russian aggression, both AfD and BSW oppose such strong support for Ukraine.’,
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