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After the increase in votes for the AfD in the state elections in Thuringia, the Central Council of Jews in Germany has again warned against a right-wing slide in Germany. »Almost a quarter of the voters in Thuringia have opted for a right-wing radical party. Especially in Thuringia there is no doubt about the right-wing national orientation of the AfD, which in my opinion can be classified as anti-democratic«, said Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council.

Everyone who voted for AfD on Sunday bears a share of responsibility for gradually undermining the foundations of democracy, Schuster stressed. »Many AfD voters have been captured by cheap racist propaganda and the devaluation of the ruling parties. However, it can be expected from all responsible citizens to closely look at which party they vote for.

CONSTITUTIONAL STATE The common excuse of the protest vote no longer works, Schuster continued. «Whoever votes for AfD chooses the path to an anti-democratic Germany. Whoever votes for AfD chooses to say goodbye to the freedoms of our democratic constitutional state.»

The AfD more than doubled its result in the election.

The International Auschwitz Committee also warned about the election results of the AfD. «For survivors of the German concentration camps this massive increase in the number of votes for the AfD in Thuringia is a renewed signal of terror, which raises fears of a further consolidation of right-wing extremist attitudes and tendencies in Germany,» announced Vice-President Christoph Heubner.

According to the preliminary official result, the current red-red-green state government no longer has a majority in Thuringia. According to the results, The Left party with state premier Bodo Ramelow received 31.0 percent of the vote, followed by the AfD with 23.4 percent, the CDU with 21.8 percent, and the SPD with 8.2 percent. The Greens and FDP made it into the Thuringian state parliament with 5.2 and 5.0 percent respectively. ja/dpa/epd