AfD Poised for Historic Win in Thuringia Election

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) was on track to become the first far-right party to win a regional election in Germany since World War Two, exit polls showed, but was almost certain to be excluded from power by rival parties.

The AfD was projected to win 33.5% of the vote in the state of Thuringia, comfortably ahead of the conservatives' 24.5%, exit poll showed. In the neighboring state of Saxony, the conservatives led on 32%, just half a percentage point ahead of the AfD.

The AfD is anti-migration, eurosceptic, Russia-friendly and is particularly strong in the former Communist-run East, where concerns about a cost of living crisis, the Ukraine war and immigration run deep.

A deadly stabbing spree linked to Islamic State ten days ago in the western German city of Solingen stoked concerns about immigration in particular and criticism of the government's handling of the issue.

The AfD's leader in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, is a polarizing figure who has called Berlin's memorial to Nazi Germany's Holocaust of Europe's Jews a "monument of shame" and was convicted twice earlier this year for using a Nazi slogan at party rallies.

Meanwhile Thousands of anti-far right and anti-AfD protesters took to the streets in Erfurt a day ahead of two state elections where the right-wing party is expected to make a strong showing.

Shouting anti-AfD slogans and calling for democrats to keep fascism out of Thuringia, the some 2000 protesters marched through town before stopping at the site of the AfD's final rally.

Thuringia and Saxony vote on Sept. 1 and Brandenburg follows on Sept. 22. Together the three states have around 8.5 million inhabitants - similar to the population of Switzerland - and account for 10% of Germany's population.

All parties have pledged not to allow into coalition an AfD they regard as anti-democratic and extremist.