Germany's Merz says victory for AfD in Saxony-Anhalt would deter foreign investors

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that ​a victory for the far-right AfD ​party in next week's regional election ‌in ​Saxony-Anhalt would damage the eastern state and deter foreign companies from investing there. "I cannot imagine international investors attending a ground-breaking ceremony with ‌an AfD Minister-President to set up new plants and establish new businesses in Saxony-Anhalt," he told ARD public television in an interview.

"However, that is a decision for the voters in Saxony-Anhalt to make. ‌The state will suffer considerable damage if things turn out as we now fear they ‌might," Merz said. The anti-immigrant AfD or Alternative for Germany party currently holds a strong lead in opinion polls, on 42% compared with 22% for Merz's conservative Christian Democrats, according to a recent poll.

If that level of support ⁠remains unchanged ​until the election on September ⁠6, it would probably leave the AfD just shy of an absolute majority of seats in state parliament. ⁠But the outcome of the vote could depend on whether smaller parties clear the 5% entry threshold needed ​to get into parliament. All the main parties have said they will not enter ⁠a coalition with the AfD, meaning that the sitting Christian Democrat state premier Sven Schulze may seek to build a coalition ⁠of ​his own or form a minority government under some form of cooperation agreement with other parties.

Merz, who has repeatedly ruled out cooperation with both the AfD and the far-left ⁠Left party, declined to say what the CDU would do if the AfD fell short of ⁠an absolute majority. "We ⁠will assess the situation in the light of the election result, and we will do everything we can to prevent Saxony-Anhalt from falling into ‌the hands ‌of the radicals," he said.