Europe reels from far-right victory in eastern Germany elections

Voters are going to the polls in the two eastern German states in what is seen as a barometer for the federal elections next year. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is polling extremely well, and polls show it likely to emerge in first place in the state of Thuringia. Such a victory would be the first electoral win at a regional level by the German far-right since the end of the Nazi era. The AfD is also predicted to achieve a strong result in the state of Saxony, possibly pushing the ruling center-right Christian Democratic Union into second place. A recently founded left-wing populist party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, is also set to perform well in both states. At the same time the parties making up Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition are all expected to take a beating. Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party are set to come a distant fourth or fifth in both states according to recent polling.