CNN —A candidate from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a local leadership post for the first time on Sunday in a resounding victory for a group whose anti-migrant, Euroskeptic and anti-Muslim agenda is under surveillance by German authorities.
The AfD’s Robert Sesselmann triumphed over incumbent Jürgen Köpper of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to become district administrator of Sonneberg, in Thuringia, central Germany, at the weekend.
“Unfortunately, it has not been a personal election as state elections have always been, it has become a pure party election,” he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party’s chairwoman Saskia Esken called the AfD victory in Sonneberg a “political dam-break” on Monday.
Even though the move doesn’t apply to parent party AfD, it revealed a growing segment of young Germans united by extreme views on migration and anti-feminism.
Persons:
Robert Sesselmann, Jürgen Köpper, Sesselmann, Köpper, ”, Olaf Scholz’s, Saskia Esken, Ricarda Lang, ” Lang, Mario Czaja, Steffen Hebestreit, ” Hebestreit, ‘, BfV, Martin Schutt, Hans Vorländer, ” Vorländer, Alice Weidel
Organizations:
CNN, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, Office, Statistics, Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic, Green Party, Getty
Locations:
Germany, Thuringia, Thuringian, Sonneberg, Ukraine, Dresden, Berlin “, Saxony