Far-right success in German votes piles new pressure on Scholz’s government

Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — The far-right Alternative for Germany party’s success in two state elections has piled new pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fractious government. AfD became the first far-right party to win a state election in post-World War II Germany in Thuringia on Sunday. In neighboring Saxony, it finished only just behind the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union, which leads the national opposition. Voters punished the three parties in Scholz’s governing coalition, which took well under 15% of the vote between them. Scholz said Sunday’s results are “bitter” and that “our country cannot and must not get used” to such AfD results.