Germany: Are protests hurting the far right?

For weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets across Germany to demonstrate against right-wing extremism. And the protests are enjoying widespread support.

Three-quarters of the participants in the latest survey by pollster Infratest Dimap said that public demonstrations are the right thing to do, but 50% doubt the protests against the far right will continue in the long term. Some 39% now say right-wing extremism is the greatest danger to German democracy, a 19% rise from 15 months ago. The research institute surveyed a total of 1,303 selected German voters from January 29 to 31.

The street protests were triggered by a report published by the journalists' network Correctiv on January 10, which included details of a meeting between right-wing extremists and some politicians from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), who discussed plans to expel millions of people of immigrant backgrounds from Germany.

The AfD, which had been flying high in the polls in the past two years, has lost 3% of voter support compared to last month. But, at 19%, it still remains the second strongest party in the country.

The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its regional Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union (CSU), came in at the top at 30% — slightly weaker than a month ago.

The center-left Social Democrats (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz have gained two percentage points (to 16%), and the Green Party gained one (to 14%). Their coalition partner, the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), headed by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, however, dropped under 5% voter support, putting them below the threshold for representation in the federal parliament, the Bundestag.

The socialist Left Party also fell below the 5% threshold. At the same time, the new Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), founded by Left Party renegade Sahra Wagenknecht, would manage to get into parliament for the first time with 5% support if an election was held today. 

Party loyalty of AfD voters solidifying

In September 2023, 80% of the AfD's supporters said they did not care whether parts of the AfD were classified as right-wing extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. That number now stands at 66%.

Only 43% of the AfD supporters polled said they could imagine voting for any other major parties, down from 54% in September 2023.

Four in 10 survey participants said it was good that the AfD was strongly committed to limiting immigration to Germany. Almost half of all respondents also said they appreciate that the AfD at least names the country's problems, even if they do not offer any solutions.

Half of respondents also said the demonstrations against the far right just distract from what they see as the real problems: climate change, inflation and uncontrolled immigration.

The belief that the governing three-way coalition can solve the problems in Germany has dwindled — only 17% of participants said they are satisfied with the government's performance. While Defense Minister Boris Pistorius continues to be the most popular politician, Chancellor Scholz enjoys 20% support. The main opposition leader, Friedrich Merz (CDU), had the support of 29%, while AfD co-chair Alice Weidel garnered 21% voter support in the monthly survey.

This article was originally written in German.

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