Earlier this week, German investigators launched two preliminary probes into AfD lawmaker and one of the party's main candidates for the European Parliament, Maximilian Krah, who is suspected of receiving money for his work from Russia and China, while his aide, Jian Guo, was detained on suspicion of working for Chinese intelligence. A number of German media reported, citing a poll by the Forsa research institute, that the AfD's popularity had dropped to 16%, the lowest since May 2023, amid the developments.
"This is all being exaggerated in the media and all these scandals are taking place amid the election campaign, that is, from my point of view, a dirty manipulation of public opinion," the politician said, adding that some state institutions and news outlets were allegedly fabricating poll results to influence and change public sentiment.
Schmidt said that the campaign allegedly launched by the German government against the AfD should not be underestimated, but expressed his belief that the party's popularity would keep increasing despite the pressure.
"I am sure that our political weight at all levels and among all groups will continue to grow thanks to the public dissatisfaction with the incumbent government and its policies on the involvement in the Ukraine war, inflation, green and migration policies. Many people's eyes are slowly opening," he added.
Schmidt's belief can be partially confirmed by the recent study by youth researchers Simon Schnetzer and Klaus Hurrelmann, and political scientist Kilian Hampel. Their poll released on April 23 showed that 22% of German young people aged between 14 and 29 would vote for the AfD if the federal elections were held at the time — double the number of the party's supporters among the younger generation in the past two years.
The European Parliament elections are scheduled for June 6-9, with 720 lawmakers to be elected to then pick the next head of the European Commission and appoint the entire college of commissioners. Meanwhile, the next German federal elections will be held on or before October 26, 2025, to elect members of the 21st Bundestag.