German AfD drops below 20 percent again in survey Why Donald Trump does not want a border deal

According to a survey by Forsa, the right-wing populist AfD is losing popularity in Germany and dropping below 20 percent.

Compared to the previous week, the party lost another percentage point and reached 19 percent, according to RTL/ntv’s ‘Trend Barometer’ published on Tuesday. The SPD and CDU/CSU, on the other hand, both recorded a small increase of one point, reaching 15 and 32 percent respectively.

If there were a federal election on Sunday, the FDP and the left would each get 3 percent – ​​a loss of one percentage point for both. This would mean that they would no longer be represented in the national parliament.

Just like last week, the Greens remain at 14 percent, the Free Voters and the newly established left-wing populist alliance Sahra Wagenknecht each at 3 percent. From January 23 to 29, more than 2,500 people were interviewed by opinion research institute Forsa.

Election surveys are generally always subject to uncertainty. Among other things, the weakening ties between the parties and increasingly short-term decisions make it more difficult for opinion research institutes to weigh the collected data. The institute applies a statistical error tolerance of plus/minus 2.5 percentage points. In principle, surveys only reflect opinions at the time of the survey and are not predictions about the election outcome.

In other surveys the AfD had already fallen below 20 percent. Since the research center Correctiv published a meeting between the radical right and AfD officials about three weeks ago, protests and demonstrations ‘against the right’ have increased. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Germany.

The AfD, founded in 2013, was only the fifth strongest force in the 2021 federal elections with 10.3 percent of the vote. Since then, their poll numbers have more than doubled. The main reason is the sharp increase in irregular immigration last year.

The first real test of strength at federal level will be the European elections, which will take place in Germany on June 9. According to surveys, the AfD, which is partly right-wing, has a chance to become the strongest party in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in the state elections in eastern Germany in September. (saw/sda/dpa)