Opinion polls and local election results currently make unhappy reading for Germany’s government. In fact, the consistently strong performance of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Europe’s largest member state (and arguably the member state with the best reasons to ward off a far-right challenge) is worrying for everyone.
The anti-immigration, climate sceptic AfD recently celebrated two significant local election wins and has been polling ahead of the government in national voter intention polls. This happened despite the fact that the German courts have the whole party being monitored by the secret service on grounds of suspected extremism.
AfD representatives have been tangled up with arguments about memorialising the Holocaust on plenty of occasions and one former AfD lawmaker is currently in custody on suspicion of taking part in a violent attempted coup.
