In this month’s polls in two former communist states, a far-right force became the strongest party for the first time since the Nazi period in one region, Thuringia, and in the other, Saxony, it finished a very close second behind Merz’s party. Cue the dramatic return of another of the most florid political characters of the post-reunification period, former Stalinist Sahra Wagenknecht, whose Kremlin apologist party came in a pivotal third place in both states.

The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW, after its German initials) has shaken up the political landscape with stances tailored to pick up disaffected voters, particularly in the east, who are still angry about government restrictions during the Covid pandemic, dislike Germany’s arms shipments to Ukraine and are deeply anxious about immigration.

“AfD supporters call it undemocratic that the party’s successes don’t result in it joining governments – they consciously overlook that you can vote for an extremist party but can’t expect that it will find coalition partners,” she said. “However, not including the AfD will improve its prospects for the next election. That’s the big dilemma for the other parties.”