Berlin | Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition was punished in two regional elections in eastern Germany on Sunday (Monday AEST), with populist parties on the extreme right and left taking more than 60 per cent of the vote in Thuringia and almost half in Saxony.

The Alternative for Germany was on course for a clear victory in Thuringia with 32.8 per cent of the vote, according to projections for public broadcaster ARD. It represents the first triumph for a far-right party in a German state ballot since World War II, even if it’s highly unlikely to be able to form a government, as it’s shunned by the other parties represented in parliament.

Bloomberg