After the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, business representatives are concerned about the continued political and economic stability of both states. Sunday's election results - in Thuringia the AfD became the strongest party, in Saxony it came second just behind the CDU - could damage the region's image at home and abroad, warned Marc Tenbieg, Chairman of the German Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (DMB). Urgently needed skilled workers could also be put off.
"SMEs need stable, business-friendly framework conditions - not a backward-looking policy of extremes with anti-freedom and anti-society programs," he explained. The AfD and BSW's commitment to SMEs is "pure masking tactics to conceal their lack of economic policy profile".