For Brandenburg's Minister President Dietmar Woidke, the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg are important for stability in eastern Germany. "Everything is at stake this time. Economic development, social security, social cohesion - and that requires political stability. In the end, it's also about democracy," the SPD politician told the Hamburg-based magazine "Stern".
The state parliaments of Thuringia and Saxony will be newly elected on September 1. Brandenburg will follow on September 22. Polls predict success for the AfD in all three states. In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the AfD has been classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist party by the respective Office for the Protection of the Constitution; nationwide and in Brandenburg, it is a suspected right-wing extremist party. The party is legally defending itself against the classification.