The Alternative for Germany (AfD) was on track on Sunday to become the first far-right party to win a regional election in Germany since World War Two, exit polls showed, but was almost certain to be excluded from power by rival parties.
The AfD was projected to win 33.5% of the vote in the state of Thuringia, comfortably ahead of the conservatives' 24.5%, broadcaster ZDF's exit poll showed. In the neighboring state of Saxony, the conservatives led on 32%, just half a percentage point ahead of the AfD.
The left populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which like the AfD demands sharper controls on immigration and wants to stop arming Ukraine, came third in both states, though significantly underperformed earlier polls.
With a year to go until Germany's national election, the results look punishing for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition, though his Social Democrats looked to have cleared the 5% threshold for staying in the parliaments of both states.
However his coalition partners, the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats looked less secure in both parliaments, in a development that could herald yet more conflict in Scholz's already fractious coalition government.
All parties including the BSW have pledged not to allow into coalition an AfD they regard as anti-democratic and extremist.
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