Björn Höcke calls strong polling for far-right AfD in Thuringia a 'historic victory'

euronews (in English)

It's the first time since WWII that a far-right party appears on course to enter a state parliament, with the AfD polling at over 32% according to exit polls published on Sunday.

Transcript

00:00The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, has called

00:06his party's success in Sunday's state elections a historic victory. It's the first time since

00:12World War II that a far-right party appears set to enter a state parliament, with the

00:17AfD polling at over 32 percent of the vote.

00:20The old parties should first practice humility. They should first perceive the vote of the

00:25people of Thuringia. This is what is driving people mad. We have surveys that show that

00:3188 percent of Thuringians are supporters of democracy, but 45 percent are satisfied with

00:35the state of democracy.

00:38The conservative Christian Democratic Union has fallen to second place in Thuringia, but

00:43is slightly ahead in the polls in neighboring Saxony. The CDU's minister-president for the

00:48state, Michael Kretschmer, said his party was ready to govern.

00:51We were the rock in the fire. We have kept this coalition together, this government together.

00:58We have brought stability to this country. And we are ready to take responsibility again

01:03with this election result.

01:06The Greens, one of the three parties that makes up Germany's ruling coalition, performed

01:10poorly in both states. The party's leader in the German parliament said he was more

01:16disappointed about the strong showing of the AfD than he was about the poor polling for

01:21his own party.

01:36Many view these results as a barometer of public sentiment for the current government

01:40ahead of next year's national elections. But the inconclusive results in both federal regions

01:46means forming a government will be very difficult. It's extremely unlikely that any other party

01:51will agree to put AfD in power by joining it in a coalition. The CDU's national general

01:57secretary, Carsten Linnemann, said his party will stick to its long-standing refusal to

02:02work with the far-right group.

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