Germany’s rampant hard-right AfD puts other parties in a fix
Co-operate or shun?
September 10th was a good day for Jörg Prophet, but not a great one. Opinion polls had promised that the trim 61-year-old engineer might win in the first round and romp home as the new mayor of Nordhausen, a quiet town of 42,000 in the lee of the rolling Harz Mountains in eastern Germany. Instead he got 42% of the vote, more than any challenger but short of a majority. Now, in a run-off, Mr Prophet may find all the opposing stripes united to keep his Alternative for Germany (AfD) out.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Running with wolves”
Europe September 16th 2023
From the September 16th 2023 edition
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