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Half of voters in the south-western German state of Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg would like to see other parties working with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), according to a YouGov survey commissioned by dpa.<\/p>\n
The numbers come just weeks before residents in the prosperous state are set to head to the polls on March 8, kicking of a bumper election year that will see regional votes in five of the country’s 16 federal states.<\/p>\n
The performance of the AfD is set to be among the developments most closely watched, after the anti-immigrant, anti-establishment party came in second in Germany’s 2025 national elections in what was its best-ever result.<\/p>\n
The AfD currently leads polls by a wide margin in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.<\/p>\n
But while the former East Germany has long been a stronghold for the party, the AfD has also been making gains in the west, and is currently polling in third place in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg with 20%.<\/p>\n
Germany’s mainstream parties have ruled out any cooperation with the AfD, an approach known as the “firewall” against a party that is monitored by domestic intelligence as a suspected extremist group, both at national level and in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg.<\/p>\n
But the numbers coming out of the south-western state indicate that voter support for the policy is crumbling.<\/p>\n
Some 24% of survey respondents said parties should decide on a case-by-case basis on how to deal with the AfD, while 26% said they are in favour of other parties considering the AfD as a potential coalition partner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n