The right-wing nationalist Alternative for Germany (AFD) made significant gains in the German election. Now, Germany's likely new Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU/CSU) wants to solve the country's problems to deprive AFD of people's support. He urges everyone to work together to "gradually deprive this party of its breeding ground".
This is really the last warning to the political parties in the democratic center of Germany to come up with joint solutions, he says at a press conference on Monday, reports AFP.
"Time issue"
Merz will now initiate talks on forming a coalition government, but has previously promised not to govern together with AFD.
Elon Musk, an advisor to US President Donald Trump, has previously spoken out in favor of AFD. He sees the party's successes as a sign of a continued upward trend for the party.
"Then it's just a matter of time before AFD wins", he writes on X.
AFD took voters from all other parties, landed on 20.8 percent of the support, and thus became the second-largest party. Merz's Christian Democratic CDU/CSU landed on 28.6 percent, and incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic SPD suffered a catastrophic defeat with 16.4 percent of the votes.
"Scarily strong"
Even if Merz does not include AFD in a coalition government, the party can still have significant influence. Dr. Robin Allers at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies sees the success as a major, historic victory for the party, he tells the Norwegian news agency NTB.
The election result was as expected, but AFD is scarily strong. In some circles in East Germany, the party has over 40 percent support, which is thought-provoking.
