Germany’s AfD Eyes Further Gains in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Elections

These results matter less for the AfD's absolute numbers than for the pressure they put on the CDU's national position. If the party that just lost Saxony-Anhalt to the AfD is now polling near single digits in another eastern state, the CDU's claim to be the only viable bulwark against the far right weakens. The open question is whether the AfD can translate state-level strength into governing arrangements, or whether mainstream parties' refusal to cooperate keeps it isolated.