The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) sees historic gains in Sunday’s state parliamentary elections in the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia as part of broader national ambitions, the party’s co-chairman said.
AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla suggested that further gains by the AfD will make it impossible for other German political parties to continue refusing to work with the AfD, which many have denounced as far too extremist and a threat to the country’s democracy.
“Perhaps the apple isn’t yet ripe,” Chrupalla said at an AfD press conference in Berlin.
“You have to be patient in politics, I’ve always said that,” he added later. “In the end the others won’t be able to get around us. The only question is when – and you have to wait for the right time.”
Chrupalla described a “Project 2029” for his far-right party, when a nationwide parliamentary election is scheduled to coincide with a number of state elections across the country.
“Overall, of course, the aim must be to become the strongest force at national level at some point. That is our goal,” Tino Chrupalla said at an AfD press conference in Berlin on Monday.
