German far-right wins its first state elections in Thuringia – exit polls

According to exit polls, the far-right Alternative for Germany will become the biggest party for the first time in the Thuringian state elections. At the same time, in Saxony the Christian Democratic Union is slightly ahead of the AfD. The first exit poll data was reported by Spiegel.

In Thuringia, according to the initial forecasts of the ARD TV channel, the AfD, which is classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitely right-wing extremist, is confidently winning with 30.5% of the vote, ahead of the CDU. The Christian Democrats come in second with 24.8%.

With 12.5% of the vote, the Left, under the leadership of current Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, is in third place, having lost over half of the vote from 2019. Projections place the far-left and pro-Russian Sarah Wagenknecht’s Alliance (BSW) in third place with up to 16%.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD will receive 7 percent, while the Greens (4.0 percent) and FDP (1.3 percent) will not enter the state parliament.

In Saxony, Michael Kretschmer is set to keep his position as prime minister; his CDU party is slightly ahead of the AfD.

According to exit polls, it received 31.5% of the vote on Sunday, with the far-right AfD coming second with 30.0%.

According to the forecast, the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) came in third with 12.0%, ahead of the SPD with 8.5%. Just above the five percent threshold were the Greens, with 5.5 percent; slightly below were the Left, with 4.0 percent, and the FDP.

The day before, several hundred people participated in a protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany in Erfurt, the capital of the federal state of Thuringia.