The co-chairman of the far-right party "Alternative for Germany” (AzG) Tino Kruppula said that his party has been given a mandate to govern in the state of Thuringia after, according to initial forecasts, it clearly leads in today's elections, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"It is indeed a historic day today in Thuringia and a very good result in Saxony,” he told public broadcaster Zet De Eff, referring to parliamentary elections held in the neighboring state of Saxony on the same day.
According to initial forecasts, the AH is slightly behind the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in Saxony.
Krupala called the result in Thuringia sensational. "We have a clear lead of over 10% in Thuringia, so we also have a clear mandate to govern. By the way, this is democracy”, he added.
Voters wanted to see a change in politics in Saxony and Thuringia, Krupala said, noting that the AZG was ready to talk to all parties.
"If you want to make a reliable policy (...) and comply with the will of the voters, then there will be no politics without A3G“, Krupala emphasized.
He warned that Germany's other parties should consider whether voters would still accept the firewall that has in the past kept right-wing parties out of government.
The ardent leader of the AfD in the state of Thuringia, Björn Höcke, hailed his party's projected lead in the state's parliamentary elections on Sunday as a “historic victory”, DPA reported.
Höcke, who has become famous in Germany for his fiery extremist rhetoric, gave a short speech to supporters during an election night in the state capital of Erfurt.
Hoeke wants to lead a coalition government in the province and plans to invite other politicians to coalition talks.
Every other major German political party categorically rules out any cooperation with the German Democratic Party, which many consider too extreme and a danger to Germany's democratic traditions.
"We are ready to take responsibility,” Hoeke said this evening, noting that tradition usually gives the best-performing party the first opportunity to form a coalition.
German populist leader Sarah Wagenknecht has said that her newly formed party, the Alliance Sarah Wagenknecht (ASV), will definitely not consider coalition talks with the far-right AfD after the elections in the German states of Saxony and Thuringia.
Chants “Höke, Höke!“ and “We begin!“ could be heard from outside the event, which was closed to the media at the last minute.
The results will mark the A&G's first victory in state parliamentary elections and are likely to be seen as a major breakthrough for the far right in Germany, DPA found.
Forecasts based on exit polls published shortly after voting closed at 6:00 p.m. predicted that the A&G would take about a third of the vote in Thuringia. According to these forecasts, the far-right party is seven to nine percent ahead of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), who are in second place.
The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the German state of Thuringia said his centre-right party has a mandate to form the next government, despite a projected second place in the state's parliamentary elections.
General Secretary of the center-left Social Democrats of Germany (SPD) party, Kevin Kühnert, acknowledged his party's expected mediocre performance in Sunday's two state parliamentary elections, DPA noted.
It was "not a night to celebrate for the SPD,”, Kühnert said on television shortly after exit polls showed the party would finish in single digits in the states of Saxony and Thuringia.
At the same time, Kühnert noted that the SPD - the party of current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz - has been struggling for years in the two provinces, which are located in former communist East Germany.
"There was a real danger that we would be thrown out of the state parliaments,” said Kuehnert, referring to opinion polls showing the Social Democrats close to the 5% threshold needed to win seats in German elections.
"It is worth fighting for, we are needed,”, he said. "We must fight to regain more strength.“