A election campaign poster for far-right AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann is seen at a street at the outskirts of the small city of Sonneberg in the German federal state of Thuringia.

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/german-county-elects-far-right-candidate-for-first-time-since-nazi-era_n_64a986d4e4b02fb0e6f8eeb9

But even there, the radical anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won its first victory in the local elections last month.

Source: https://leftfootforward.org/2023/07/europes-lurch-to-the-far-right-and-its-influence-on-uk-conservatives/

However, the new program says the AfD supports the idea of a “Europe of fatherlands, a European community of sovereign, democratic states.”

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ap-european-parliament-alice-weidel-christian-democratic-union-vienna-b2388454.html

In a 2018 speech at the national conference of the party’s youth section, former AfD chairman Alexander Gauland said that “Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of bird shit in a thousand years of successful German history.”

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/afd-alternative-for-germany-deutschland-immigration-economy-decline-climate-change-right-wing-populism-opinion-mathias-dopfner/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication

In contrast, the AfD had cause for celebration, with co-leader Alice Weidel declaring the party was "on the right track".

Source: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/scholz-coalition-dealt-midterm-poll-blow-far-right-gains.1060065

In contrast, there was cause for celebration for the anti-immigration AfD.

Source: https://www.thelocal.de/20231008/scholzs-coalition-suffers-losses-in-germany-state-polls-exit-polls

In Germany for example polls show that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has overtaken the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) to become the second-most popular party in Germany.

Source: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23673693.spain-feeling-heat-deeply-unpredictable-election/?ref=rss

In the east, where the AfD won those two mayoralties, one of the party’s local leaders, Siegbert Droese, has a similar story.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12289079/How-Germanys-open-door-migrants-dash-Net-Zero-sent-lurching-Right.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

In Thuringia, where the AfD is both very strong and particularly extreme, the CDU and FDP were recently able to pass a law because the AfD supported their motion,” says Arzheimer.

Source: https://www.thelocal.de/20231218/explained-could-the-far-right-afd-ever-take-power-in-germany

In Thuringia, where the AfD is both very strong and particularly extreme, the CDU and FDP were recently able to pass a law because the AfD supported their motion,” says Arzheimer.

Source: https://www.thelocal.de/20231218/explained-could-the-far-right-afd-ever-take-power-in-germany

Known for pushing boundaries and a more confrontational, aggressive style of politics, the AfD is gaining support; a recent poll showed more than one in five Germans supporting the party, up from 10 percent in the 2021 election.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/29/world/europe/businesses-civics-education.html

One AfD member said their movement is “much indebted” to this new form of technology, as it will help them to “generate images based on stereotypes.”

Source: https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/descendants-of-abraham

The AfD last month won a vote for a district leader for the first time and is on course to win three upcoming state elections in east Germany.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/thousands-protest-against-germanys-far-right-afd-party-3664096?cid=cna_flip_070214

The popularity of the AfD has a tendency to ebb and flow.

Source: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/25/germany-scholz-progressive-spd/

The two were put in touch by one of Weilheim’s local members of the far-right AfD party who once served in the military with Mr. Eller and remains a reservist.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/17/world/europe/germany-russia-spies.html