Germanist pointed to the impressive result of the AdG party in Brandenburg

The extreme right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AdG) showed an impressive result in the Brandenburg elections, although it was overtaken by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz by a small margin. Thus, the AdG will become increasingly difficult to ignore at the federal level, historian, political scientist and Germanist Evgenia Pimenova, Ph.D., shared with Izvestia on September 23.

Elections to the Land Parliament of Brandenburg were held the day before. SPD gained 30.9% of votes, AdG - 29.2%. Third and fourth place went to the opposition parties Sarah Wagenknecht's Union for Reason and Justice (SSV) - with 13.5% and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - with 12.1%.

"Many experts expected a resounding victory for the AdG, but it did not happen. What was the reason? There are several factors: it is the traditionalism of the German voter - in this region traditionally vote for the Social Democrats. It is also the factor of the new SSV party, which, playing both on the right and on the left at the same time, literally collapsed the Left Party, which was quite popular in Brandenburg, and, along with this, drew votes away from the AdG," Pimenova explained.

Thus, the elections in Brandenburg became another regional campaign, where the SSV made itself known, she added. According to the political scientist, we can say with a high degree of probability that this political force may enter the parliament next year. In turn, the SPD, the party that has ruled in Brandenburg for many years, "with a squeak" held its position, drew the attention of the interlocutor of the publication.

"Despite a small margin of votes in favor of the SPD, still "Alternative" showed quite an impressive result, and it will become increasingly difficult to ignore at the federal level. <...> This is another challenge to the Scholz government," the Germanist said.

At the same time, she said, the role of regional elections in German politics should not be overemphasized at this stage. Much will become clear closer to the all-German elections in 2025, and these or those configurations of political forces at the state level will not change the all-German political vector, summarized the political scientist.

Commenting on the results of the elections in Brandenburg, the head of the AdG faction in the regional parliament, Christoph Berndt, said that this campaign was a "public castration of the CDU." According to him, the election exposed the cartel of parties ruling in Brandenburg. CDU Brandenburg general secretary Gordon Hoffmann, RBB 24 reported, called Sunday a "bitter day" for his party.

AdG co-chairwoman Alice Weidel specified that their party had been successful three times in the election campaigns and was the only party that had been consistently successful.

Prior to that, elections were held in the federal states of Saxony and Thuringia. There, the SPD posted record low results, while the Alternative for Germany became one of the most popular parties among voters. At the beginning of 2024, the SPD's rating plummeted to a record low, with only 13% of the total population willing to vote for it.