Far-right AfD significantly increases its vote share, Chancellor Scholz's Social Democrats hold a slim lead in Brandenburg elections
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) made big gains and was in tight race with the Social Democrats (SPD) in Brandenburg state elections, according to exit polls on Sunday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) was predicted to win the election with a slim margin of 31.2% - 29.9%, according to exit polls by public broadcaster ARD.
The anti-immigrant AfD was projected to come in second by increasing its vote share by more than 6 percentage points to 29.9%, posting its best-ever result in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
The newly formed left-wing populist party, Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), was expected to get about 12% and become the third-largest group in the state parliament.
Exit polls showed that most voters were concerned about their economic welfare and were demanding stronger measures from authorities to stop irregular migration and address domestic security threats.
