SVE NEWS & BBC.COM Sharing Series — German far right hails ‘historic’ election victory in east

The AfD’s highly controversial top candidate in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, hailed a “historic victory”

Mr Höcke’s party has been designated as right-wing extremist and he has been fined for using a Nazi slogan, although the former history teacher denies knowingly doing so.

One of Germany’s best-known Holocaust survivors, Charlotte Knobloch, pointed out that the election had taken place 85 years to the day since the outbreak of World War Two. The result had left the country in danger of becoming “more unstable, colder and poorer, less safe and less worth living in”, she said.

With federal elections only a year away, the AfD is second in national opinion polls. Co-leader Alice Weidel said the result was a “requiem” for the three parties running Germany and it was clear that voters in both eastern states wanted her party in government.

“Without us a stable government is no longer possible at all,” she said.

That message was repeated by Björn Höcke, who suggested there were plenty of CDU voters who would be happy if they worked together.

Without the support of other parties, the AfD cannot govern in Thuringia, and the CDU has made clear it will not consider ruling with the far right.

Mathematically, the conservatives will need support from parties on the left to form a majority.