Germany’s AfD draws level with Merz’s conservatives – poll

The right-wing party has garnered 24% of support, according to a survey by the INSA institute

Support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has reached parity with the country’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance, according to a new national poll. The development comes as the CDU/CSU remains in talks to form a new government, weeks after a federal election.

The survey, conducted by the INSA institute for the Bild newspaper and published on Sunday, showed that the AfD and the long-established coalition of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) both have 24% public support.

Compared to the last poll in February conducted shortly after the federal election, the CDU/CSU lost 2% while the AfD gained 1%. Meanwhile, Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) – whose rating plummeted under Chancellor Olaf Scholz – maintained 16% support, while the Greens and the Left Party each polled at 11%.

The survey interviewed 1,206 voters between March 31 and April 4.

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Bild described the poll’s results for the CDU/CSU – which was formerly led by ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel – as “the worst-case scenario” for the bloc. One unnamed CDU official cited by Bild went as far as to predict that “by Easter, the AfD will be ahead of the Union in the polls.”

The federal election in February saw the CDU/CSU emerge as the leading party with 28.5% of the vote. Friedrich Merz, the CDU leader, is currently engaged in coalition negotiations to form a government and is the presumed next chancellor.

However, Merz has ruled out any talks with the AfD on its participation in the coalition, explaining that the party “stands against our Western orientation, it stands against the euro, it stands against NATO.”

At the same time, the CDU has said it will implement stricter migration policies, even if it requires support from the AfD.

Migration concerns have been at the heart of the AfD’s rise for several years as Germany faces challenges in accommodating asylum seekers. The debate has been amplified by incidents involving migrants, such as the arrest of a 19-year-old Syrian in Berlin in February for a stabbing attack near the Holocaust Memorial, which authorities described as motivated by anti-Semitism.