The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, whose party won Sunday's election to the state parliament according to exit polls, declared in the evening that the AfD had “achieved a historic result”. “The old parties should practice humility,” Hoecke told ARD television after the exit poll results were announced, showing that the AfD had won the eastern German state.
According to survey ZDF television exit poll in Thuringia Alternative for German (AfD) could win 33.2 percent of the votes (in 2019 it won 24.5 percent), and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 24.5 percent. The populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BWF) could win 14.5 percent. The Left Party received 11.5 percent, and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) – 6.5 percent of the votes. The Greens and FDP obtained results below the 5 percent electoral threshold.
– We are the number one people's party in Thuringia – Hoecke triumphed in ARD. He announced that he wants to hold talks with other parties about participating in the Thuringia government. – We are ready to take on government responsibility – he assured.
AfD leader Alice Weidel also spoke of her party's “historic success,” which has become the largest political force in Thuringia for the first time. She added that in Saxony, where state elections were also held on Sunday, the AfD “achieved a better result than we expected.” In her opinion, “voters want the AfD to be part of the government.”
Other parties interested in cooperation with AfD
The founder of the radical left populist BSW party, Sahra Wagenknecht, has ruled out cooperation with the AfD in Thuringia under Hoecke's leadership. “Mr. Hoecke represents a volkisch worldview that is miles away from us (…) We have always said that we cannot work with Mr. Hoecke,” Wagenknecht told ARD television. Wagenknecht hopes that BSW will be able to form a good government in Thuringia together with the CDU and – according to current data – also the SPD.
Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) believes that the task of forming a government falls to CDU candidate Mario Voigt. “The person on the democratic spectrum who has the most votes must start talks, must send out invitations. I will support all those who help us achieve a democratic majority in parliament,” Ramelow told ARD television, referring to the CDU results. According to exit polls, Voigt's party came in behind the AfD in the Thuringian elections.
Saxony's premier Michael Kretschmer of the CDU, which according to polls won Sunday's elections in the state, expressed satisfaction. “We have every reason to celebrate,” he said, quoted by the “Welt” daily. “We have five difficult years behind us, but the people of Saxony have trusted the Christian Democrats,” he added. “We are ready to continue to take responsibility” for our state, he assured.
According to forecasts published after the polls closed, the AfD won in Thuringia, ahead of the CDU. In Saxony, the Christian Democrats have a slight advantage over the AfD.
Who is Hoecke?
Bjoern Hoecke was a high school teacher before he got involved in politics. In 2017, he became famous scandalous words about the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. – We Germans, our nation, are the only nation in the world that has planted a monument of shame in the very heart of its capital – he said during a meeting in Dresden. He accused the Germans of cultivating the mentality of a defeated nation, and Angela Merkel He compared him to the leader of the GDR, Erich Honecker. He demanded a “180-degree turnaround in the historical debate” in Germany.
Björn Hoecke during the pre-election TV debate EPA
He uses slogans straight from the Third Reich – recently he has been openly supporting Putin, and Russia says he is not an enemy, but a natural partner. – Bjorn Hoecke has long since become the unofficial leader of the party. He is well on his way to getting rid of the remnants of moderate members and openly becoming the Fuehrer of the National Socialist party with enormous influence throughout the country – warned Irmgard Wurdack, the organizer of the demonstration against the AfD.
In May, the district court in Halle sentenced Hoecke to a fine for using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. He must pay 13,000 euros. The leader of the AfD in Thuringia used the banned phrase “Alles fuer Deutschland” (Everything for Germany), the slogan of the SA (Sturmabteilung), the paramilitary assault squads of the NSDAP, at a rally in Merseburg in May 2021.
Hoecke denied the charges against him in court. He claimed he was “unaware” of the slogan's origins.
The party structures of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Thuringia are considered to be particularly nationalist.
They are growing stronger, but no one wants to cooperate with them
The AfD was founded in early 2013 in opposition to financial aid for Greece and other indebted EU countries. Since 2015, the group's main slogan has been closing Germany's borders to migrants from the Middle East and Africa, limiting the influence of Islam, tightening the fight against crime and improving relations with Russia.
After the 2017 parliamentary elections, the AfD became the third largest party in the country and entered the Bundestag for the first time.
The AfD does not hide the fact that it draws its inspiration from Hungarian and Poland. Confederation politicians regularly meet with party members.
In Germany itself, the AfD is surrounded by a sanitary cordon. It is isolated by the other parties. No one imagines forming a coalition with it, but the growing power of the far right makes this situation difficult to maintain in the future. The stronghold of the far right is the former GDR. It is there that slogans opposing climate policy, immigration and even aid fall on fertile ground. Ukraine.
Main image source: EPA/CLEMENS BILAN