The pro-Russian far-right party Alternative for Germany wins local elections for the first time
On June 25, the second round of local elections was held in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia. Robert Sesselmann, a member of the Alternative for Germany party, won the post of district chairman with 52% of the vote.
The Thuringian Statistical Office provided the data.
Alternative for Germany is a far-right Eurosceptic party that emerged in 2013 and entered the German parliament after the 2017 elections. It currently criticises sanctions against Russia. The party's founder, Alexander Gauland, justified the occupation of Crimea, visited Russia, met with Russian propagandist Alexander Dugin, and called the Russian-Ukrainian war "an internal affair of Ukraine and Russia."
After the end of World War II, the federal state of Thuringia fell under Soviet occupation and became part of the German Democratic Republic. The far right is more popular in the regions that used to be part of the GDR. For example, in the 2021 parliamentary elections, AfD won 24% of the vote in Thuringia. The national average was 10%.
On June 11, the first round of elections for the head of the Sonneberg district took place. AfD came in first but did not win a simple majority, gaining 46% of the vote. AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann went through to the second round together with Christian Democrats' Jürgen Köpper. Sesselmann won the second round.
According to opinion polls, support for AfD at the national level is also growing. It currently stands at around 20%. In the previous parliamentary elections, the party received 10%. The next elections will be held in 2025.
