Voters in two eastern German states are going to the polls in elections in which the far-right is expected to make a strong showing.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) had been leading polls in Thuringia ahead of Sunday’s vote, while the party was neck and neck with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Saxony.
Chancellor Olaf Schulz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and its coalition partners have fared poorly in recent opinion polls.
Thousands of protesters rallied in Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia, on Saturday, denouncing the anti-immigration Alternative for France as fascist. The Alternative for Germany says Germany needs to deport illegal immigrants.
Polling stations in both German states are scheduled to open at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT).
In Thuringia, the AfD is widely expected to become the largest party.
Meanwhile, the SPD and its Green and Liberal coalition partners are doing so poorly in Thuringia that they may not even get a seat in the state parliament.
The Alternative for Germany is officially classified as a right-wing extremist in Thuringia, and its controversial regional leader Bjorn Hock was recently fined for using Nazi slogans – although he denied doing so intentionally.
In Saxony, the AfD is competing with the CDU for first place.
A Syrian asylum seeker and suspected Islamist has been charged with killing three people in a knife attack in western Germany last week, It sparked fierce criticism of successive governments’ handling of immigration issues.
Even if the AfD becomes the largest party in the two states, that does not mean it will take power, as other parties have publicly ruled out forming a majority with it.
Still, the poll results will be seen as a litmus test ahead of Germany’s 2025 federal elections.
