Why is far-right AfD dominating in northeast Germany?

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Why is far-right AfD dominating in northeast Germany?  In the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the far-right Alternative for Germany party surged in popularity during the recent snap elections. Euronews examines why.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/03/10/why-is-far-right-afd-dominating-in-northeast-germany  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00In the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, far-right party Alternative für Germany

00:08is the strongest party. Germany's snap elections, which took place just two weeks ago, saw the

00:14AfD win their best-ever result. The mayor of the small city of Passau-Walch, Daniel

00:20Rodewald, said people in the region feel unheard by the federal government.

00:25We, as small municipalities in the region, are under-financed. We have to be better financed.

00:32We, as cities, have to limit the voluntary services. And that's what the citizens want.

00:38They want to feel comfortable in the city. They feel comfortable, but there are still

00:43ways to improve that.

00:45Some residents in the east of Germany say they have tried out major parties such as CDU and

00:51SPD, but they haven't delivered on bringing living costs down, so they would like to try

00:56something new with the AfD.

00:58There are a lot of citizens who are dissatisfied, but not necessarily with the city politics.

01:03It was only a federal election, and you can't transfer that one-to-one to Passau-Walch.

01:09And the citizens who were dissatisfied have their reasons. There are certainly things

01:15that didn't go the way they should have.

01:18Whilst AfD posters have already been taken down, a record 75% of Gross-Lukau voted for

01:25AfD. The village of 200 residents is isolated, like many in the region. A local AfD MP says

01:33a shortage of skilled workers, high taxes and energy costs, poor infrastructure and bureaucracy

01:39is crippling the region.

01:41The AfD wants to have it better. They want the foreigners out, who don't belong here.

01:49What do they have to look for here? They take our money. They don't want to work.

01:54They get an apartment. They put everything in the back. And the big cities, they are homeless.

02:03They don't have an apartment for them. They sleep day and night outside in the cold.

02:08Nobody cares. The main thing is that the foreigners come. And if they are sent home now,

02:13they get pocket money, 1,000 euros. Why?

02:17For now, the pressure will be on for the new German government to revive the economy,

02:22especially if they want to bring back voters to the established parties.

02:26Liv Stroud, reporting for Euronews.

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