The far-right party "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) came in second place in a Berlin opinion poll, months before regional elections in the German capital, which has the status of a province, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
According to a poll by the INSA institute, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is leading with 22% support, followed by the AfD with 17%. They are immediately followed by three left-wing parties - the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 16% and the "Greens" and "The Left" by 15%.
Berlin is one of five German states that will hold elections on September 20 this year.
If the poll data is confirmed, the current ruling coalition in the city, led by Mayor Kai Wegner, who is the local leader of the CDU, and including the SPD, will probably not retain its majority in the Berlin House of Representatives.
The last elections in the German capital were held in 2021, but the vote had to be repeated in 2023 due to irregularities on election day. In the re-vote, the CDU, whose chairman is German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, registered a high result of 28.2%. The SPD and the "Greens" each received 18.4%, the "Left" - 12.2%, while the AfD was significantly behind with 9.1%.
In the last federal parliamentary elections last year, however, the "Left" party, the successor to the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany in communist East Germany, won the most votes in Berlin.
The INSA survey was conducted between February 17 and 24 among 1,000 respondents. Germany's first regional elections of the year will be held on March 8 in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg.