Angela Merkel played a key role in the rise of the AfD

To no one’s great surprise, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) romped to victory in Sunday’s election in the eastern state of Thuringia. The party, classified as right-wing extremist by Germany’s security authorities, also came a close second to the centre-right CDU in Saxony’s election. The result is being described as the first for a far-right party in a German state parliament election since the Second World War.

In response to the AfD’s triumph, German chancellor Olaf Scholz urged other German parties to exclude ‘right-wing extremists’ from power, saying: ‘The AfD is damaging Germany.’

If so, Angela Merkel must share the blame. It is the former chancellor, in power from 2005 to 2021, who surely facilitated the rise of the AfD.

In the 2013 federal elections, the AfD received just over two million votes and no seats in the Bundestag. Four years later, nearly six million Germans backed the party and they secured 94 seats in parliament.