Saxony business owners fear far left and far right victory in German state elections

euronews (in English)

Young people are leaving Germany's most south-eastern city of Zittau in droves. Houses are also abandoned in the city of Görlitz in Saxony, that sits on the border with Poland. But what impact could the September elections have on residents?

Transcript

00:00According to a recent study, over half of German businesses are worried about the far-right alternative for Germany party.

00:07With three East German state elections just around the corner, we travelled to the Saxon city of Zittau,

00:14where young people live in droves and where these elections could have major consequences.

00:19It is not possible to rule out that Bündnis Sarawanknecht and the Alternative for Germany

00:26will join forces and then things will get dangerous in the area.

00:30Our business, which is based a lot on youth,

00:35has a lot to do with initiatives and associations that depend on funding.

00:41Or the university, which also doesn't know what to do with money.

00:45They are all dependent on public money and they don't know what will happen.

00:49Will they get money again? Will they not get money?

00:52If the AfD and the Nazis, who represent the AfD, come to the state parliament and form a government there,

00:58then it will look really bad in terms of funding for alternative projects.

01:08The people don't come out of the villages.

01:11There is no infrastructure in terms of people's transport.

01:15You are trapped in these villages.

01:17And then you have a person who needs care and is on the countryside.

01:23And they don't come out.

01:25And they don't have a doctor.

01:27And that makes people dissatisfied.

01:29And there are parties that want to do something about it.

01:31They want to improve the care.

01:33They want to improve the income.

01:34They want to improve the infrastructure.

01:36But they are not elected.

01:37People are dissatisfied.

01:39But it's better to elect those who make them even more dissatisfied.

02:00What scares me a lot, and if you can call it fear,

02:03is that many parties, like the big ones, like the CDU,

02:06react to such things and participate.

02:09And don't oppose anything.

02:11So don't oppose any content.

02:13It's not like the city is doing badly.

02:15The city is doing well.

02:16Most people are doing well in the city.

02:18And the more incomprehensible this unrest or dissatisfaction is,

02:22there are regions in this country where things are much worse.

02:33I remember the last two or three years in the GDR.

02:37How many people crossed the border to the West to live better.

02:41They didn't feel bad here, but they wanted something else.

02:44And that's a bit of a parallel to today.

02:47But when others do that and come to us, it's questioned.

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