Germany's political landscape shifts as AfD leads key poll

What do you need to know?

• AfD achieves historic success: The far-right AfD party has taken first place for the first time in key German polls.
• Reaction from AfD leader: Alice Weidel emphasised that "people want political change", indicating growing support for alternative political solutions.
• Challenging coalition talks: The SPD and CDU/CSU are engaged in talks to form a government, trying to keep the far-right away from power.

The far-right AfD party has taken first place for the first time in key German polls.

According to Reuters, this is a sign of growing dissatisfaction with major parties amidst attempts by future Chancellor Friedrich Merz to reach a coalition agreement.

Support for Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc, which won the February 23 election, fell by five percentage points to 24% while the Alternative for Germany (AfD) gained three points to land on 25%, according to an Ipsos poll.

AfD took second place in the elections, which is the best result for a far-right party since World War II.

AfD leader Alice Weidel hailed her party's breakthrough in the polls in a post on X. "People want political change - not a 'usual' CDU/CSU and SPD coalition," she wrote.

The Ipsos poll also showed that support for outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) remained unchanged at 15%.

The centre-left SPD is in talks with the CDU/CSU about forming the next German government. Both sides are forced to reach a compromise on political issues such as taxes and migration to keep the far-right away from power.

According to Reuters sources, these talks are expected to conclude on Wednesday.

A few days ago, we reported the results of an Insa survey, published by "Bild".

The survey indicated that AfD matched CDU/CSU, gaining 24% support. This is the first time that the right-wing populist party has achieved such a result. Alice Weidel emphasised then that "there is no way around AfD" in future coalitions.