Leipzig social scientist explains the voting behavior of East Germans

The Leipzig-based social scientist Astrid Lorenz considers the voting behavior of East Germans with high approval ratings for the AfD to be unsurprising. "For some time now, large sections of the East German population have felt that their positions are not sufficiently reflected in politics in Germany and Europe," she told the German Press Agency on Monday. Many consider the climate protection strategy to be unreasonable and have the impression that there is no longer any control over who comes to Germany and Europe and that there is no longer a functioning security strategy. "And they argue that too little is being done and with the wrong strategy for peace negotiations in relation to the war in Ukraine."

"The fact that these positions are underrepresented is not only a nuisance for them in the matter, but they interpret this as a malfunction of democracy, which should actually follow the will of the majority instead of the will of a small party - the Greens," emphasized the professor. In this climate, the measures and public appearance of the current federal government have been viewed particularly critically from the outset. "Many people want a different policy with different parties because they think those in power are out of touch, and they vote accordingly. This trend could continue in the state elections." The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance is likely to become the kingmaker in Saxony.

The AfD clearly won the European elections in the Free State of Saxony on Sunday. According to the preliminary results, the party, which is classified as right-wing extremist by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, won 31.8 percent of the vote. The CDU was defeated with 21.8 percent. The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance came in with 12.6 percent, followed at some distance by the SPD (6.9), Greens (5.9) and Left Party (4.9).