UPDATE - Far-right AfD is damaging Germany, Chancellor Scholz says

UPDATES WITH COMMENTS FROM LEAD CANDIDATES, ADDS BACKGROUND

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday expressed concern over the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) huge gains in Sunday’s regional elections, claiming the AfD is damaging the country.

“Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing our society and ruining our country's reputation,” Scholz said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Scholz called on all democratic parties to join forces against the far-right, and support building coalition governments in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony.

“All democratic parties are now called upon to form stable governments, without right-wing extremists,” he said, referring to the expected coalition talks in the eastern states.

Germany’s far-right claimed its biggest electoral success since World War II, with the AfD winning the state election in Thuringia with close to 33% of the vote and came in second in neighboring Saxony at around 30%.

Officials from the anti-immigrant party said they were ready to enter coalition talks with other parties.

The AfD’s co-chairwoman, Alice Weidel, hailed her party’s performance as a “historical success." She called on other parties to change their stance against the AfD, and engage in talks with them to build coalition governments.

“The voters want to see the AfD in the government. We are representing around 30% of voters in both federal states. Without us, a stable government is no longer possible,” she said.

But senior leaders of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) ruled out forming a coalition government with the far-right AfD, which has long been monitored by the security services for its anti-democratic tendencies.

During a press conference in Berlin, the CDU's lead candidate in Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, said they will stick to their earlier decision, and will not hold coalition talks with the AfD.

“We made it very clear before the election that cooperation with the AfD is not possible,” he said, adding that they will hold talks in the coming days with democratic parties to build a stable coalition government in Saxony.

Mario Voigt, the CDU’s lead candidate in Thuringia, also reaffirmed his party’s line, and said they are planning to first hold talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the left-wing BSW to explore coalition options.

“We are aiming for a CDU-led government. Of course, we will now explore what options are feasible under these difficult conditions,” he told reporters.

The CDU came in second place in the state of Thuringia with 23.6%, but managed to win a narrow victory in the neighboring Saxony by taking 31.9% of the vote.

Scholz’s left-liberal coalition government had suffered heavy losses in both states amid growing voter discontent with the government’s Ukraine policy, costly energy reforms, and concerns about irregular migration.