Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) narrowly won a regional election in Brandenburg, securing victory against the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). However, forming a coalition government will prove challenging as they are likely to need the support of the hard-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which opposes US missile deployment and advocates for peace talks with Russia.
Dietmar Woidke, the leader of Brandenburg state, said only his party had campaigned to keep the far-right AfD out of powerDietmar Woidke, the leader of Brandenburg state, said only his party had campaigned to keep the far-right AfD out of powerThe relief felt by Germany ’s Social Democrats at having narrowly won a regional election against the far right was tempered on Monday when it became clear they would need the support of hard-left Russophiles in order to form a government.
Three other parties with whom the SPD would usually consider a partnership performed miserably, with the Greens failing to get into parliament at all. The leftist-conservative Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance , which came in third with 13%, appears crucial to coalition talks. Like the AfD, the BSW is anti-Nato, Kremlin-friendly and anti-migration, skilled at tuning into, as well as stoking, voters’ fears over living costs, immigration and a sense that Scholz’s government is endangering the safety of its own citizens by sending weapons to Ukraine.Analysts said the Brandenburg results reinforced the notion that extremist parties were increasingly able to set the agenda.
On Monday, as he was received as a party hero at the SPD’s Willy Brandt House headquarters, Woidke said: “We were the only political power in Brandenburg that said right from the start that we would win against the AfD. Others didn’t have the guts to do so.”
SPD Afd Brandenburg Coalition Germany
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