The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Monday hailed his party’s showing in the country’s parliamentary election as “sensational,” after the AfD came in second behind the conservative bloc with around 20.8% of the vote.
While that was the best showing for a far-right party in Germany’s post-Nazi history, it conceals a clear divide along old Cold War lines, with the AfD the overwhelming winner across the former communist East Germany.
“East Germans have clearly showed that they no longer want a firewall,” AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla told local radio station rbb inforadio, referring to an agreement among Germany’s mainstream political parties against cooperation with the far right.
The AfD would be patient, Chrupalla said in view of the outcome of Sunday’s vote, which will likely see his party becoming the biggest opposition faction in parliament, as the conservatives have vowed not to seek a coalition with the AfD.
“You have to have a little courage to be calm. We have that,” he said adding that the AfD would continue to develop and professionalize its programme. “And then we will get another 5 to 6% in the next election,” said Chrupalla.
“Those who build firewalls will be fried behind them, Mr Merz will experience that too,” Chrupalla told a morning programme on public broadcaster ARD, referring to conservative leader Friedrich Merz, who looks set to replace outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The AfD, which has been classified as a far-right extremist group by domestic intelligence in some eastern German states, achieved 20.8% at national level in Sunday’s early elections, behind the conservatives at 28.5%.
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