The “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) party hopes to significantly strengthen its position in the upcoming Bundestag elections, doubling its previous result and securing around 20% of the vote.
This was stated by Torben Braga, a member of parliament and coordinator of the AfD faction in the Thuringian state parliament. According to him, the party aims not only to retain its existing supporters but also to attract new voters. In Thuringia, AfD hopes to win in most electoral districts, although achieving success in all eight would be challenging. Nevertheless, securing victory in six or seven districts would already be a significant achievement.
Braga noted that forming a coalition could be difficult for AfD due to programmatic differences with other parties. However, the greatest areas of overlap are observed with the CDU/CSU bloc. As key conditions for coalition cooperation, AfD emphasizes expanding mechanisms of direct democracy (including nationwide referendums) and reassessing Germany’s relationship with the European Union. However, most major parties do not support these initiatives: the CDU/CSU remains skeptical about expanding public referendums, while the SPD, the Greens, and the Left reject AfD’s migration policies.
Thus, according to Braga, the closest alignment in views is with conservative forces, although the CDU and CSU have recently shifted towards a centrist and left-liberal course.
