A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Now to Germany and a look at a regional election that is seen as a political litmus test in Europe's biggest economy. The liberal party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz staged a last-minute comeback to narrowly fend off a challenge from Germany's largest far-right party. Here's NPR's Rob Schmitz.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: After weeks of trailing in the polls, the center-left Social Democrats surprised the country by edging out the far-right Alternative for Deutschland, or AfD, in yesterday's election in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds the capital, Berlin. It was a significant victory. Earlier this month, the AfD became the first far-right party since the Nazis in World War II to receive the most votes in a state election. It won the state of Thuringen, and on the same day, it came in a close second in an election in Saxony, and its national poll numbers have been on the rise.
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DIETMAR WOIDKE: (Speaking German).
SCHMITZ: In a victory speech, Dietmar Woidke, the social Democrat premier of Brandenburg, told supporters, quote, "we put in a lot of hard work over the last few months all to prevent our state from becoming Nazi territory."
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SCHMITZ: Woidke is a popular state premier of what's become, nationally, an unpopular party. Social Democrat Olaf Scholz is Germany's least popular chancellor on record, and that's why Woidke avoided campaigning with him. Voters criticized Scholz's hesitant leadership style, the state of Germany's economy, and are concerned about what many see as a broken immigration system. The co-chair for the far-right AfD, Alice Weidel, told supporters last night her party offers changes from Scholz's status quo.
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ALICE WEIDEL: (Speaking German).
SCHMITZ: "The future belongs to the AfD," said Weidel, "because young professionals and students see that we can offer them prospects, and the other parties will have to face up to that sooner or later." So far, every other party in Germany has chosen later. No party has agreed to govern with the AfD due to the party's anti-immigrant and what many call racist agenda. But with each state election this year, the party has strengthened its presence in state parliaments, making it difficult for the other parties to form governing coalitions.
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UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing in non-English language).
SCHMITZ: The AfD's Weidel spoke at a postelection party, where young supporters sang a popular song that goes, hey, here it begins. We'll party all night long. But they changed the lyrics to, hey, here it begins. We'll deport them all, referring to the millions of migrants who have moved to Germany in recent years. In video footage from the party, the supporters held up a sign that read, deport by the millions.
Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Berlin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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