The far-right Alternative for Germany is riding high in the polls to the alarm of mainstream parties and is on track to win three state votes in the east of the country with calls to stop migration and curb what it sees as a costly green agenda
Supporters of Alternative for Germany party protest against the government in Berlin, Germany, October 8, 2022. REUTERS/Christian MangMigration debate moves up the mainstream agendaGovernment says AfD helped by crises that are easing
But the rise of the AfD, which lambasts the German government for high immigration levels, surging inflation and a costlyGermany's domestic spy agency has branded the AfD's youth wing "", saying it propagated "a racial concept of society". The spy agency's head has also accused the AfD, which opposes sanctions on Russia, of helping spread Russian propaganda about the Ukraine war.
Migration is moving up Germany's political agenda. Michael Kretschmer, the premier of the east German state of Saxony and who is from the right of centre Christian Democratic Union , said last week that the number of migrants was "too big", calling for limits on refugees allowed in and cuts to benefits.
AfD leader Tino Chrupalla said more voters appreciated that the policies of the Greens, Scholz's junior coalition partner which wants a swifter shift away from hydrocarbons, brought "economic war, inflation and de-industrialisation."In Thueringen, Saxony and Brandenburg, the east German states that are holding state elections in 2024, the AfD is on track to top voting for the first time, with surveys showing its support at 23%-28%.
Some AfD initiatives have won backing from mainstream voters on the more local level. In December, members of the CDU in the small town of Bautzen in Saxony voted in favour of an AfD proposal to cut some benefits, such as language courses for migrants whose asylum applications had been rejected.
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