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Support for Merkel Slips as German Eurosceptics Eye New Election Gains

© AFP 2023 / JOHN MACDOUGALLSupporters of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party display an AfD banner during a demonstration by AfD supporters in Berlin on November 7, 2015
Supporters of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party display an AfD banner during a demonstration by AfD supporters in Berlin on November 7, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Alternative for Germany, a populist party known for its anti-migrant views, has been on the rise while public support for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has slipped, according to a recent poll conducted by the Emnid Institute.

Frauke Petry appears on a large screen after being elected as leader of the eurosceptic party Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) while former leader Bernd Lucke wathces at the AfD's party congress in Essen, western Germany, July 4, 2015 - Sputnik International
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The populist right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has seen its support figures go up to 12 percent from 10 percent before.

Meanwhile, Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democrats had their support decline by two percentage points to 34 percent from 36 percent previously.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, saw its support fall by 2 percentage points to 36 percent.

The Social Democrats (SPD), the CDU's coalition partner, came in at 24 percent, one percentage point down from the previous count.

The German Left was favored by 10 percent of respondents, with the Greens in fifth place with 9 percent.

This means that if parliamentary elections were held today the AfD, founded just three years ago, would easily clear the five percent threshold to win seats in the Bundestag.

Meanwhile, AfD leader Frauke Petry made headlines with a call for tighter border controls with neighboring Austria to keep illegal migrants away.

She even said that if need be police should be allowed to use firearms.

The Emnid poll of about 1,600 people across Germany was conducted before Petry made her scandalous statement.

Support for Chancellor Angela Merkel is slipping over her handling of the nation’s refugee crisis and her refusal to curb the number of migrants flowing into the country.

With the next parliamentary elections still a year away, the results of regional polls in March would give a clear picture of the impact the migrant crisis has had on the political situation in Germany.

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