Will Brandenburg follow the far-right surge in eastern Germany?

Brandenburg is the last state in the east of Germany to vote in regional elections ahead of next year's federal vote.

The state has been governed by the Social Democrats since the 90s, when Germany reunified following the fall of the Berlin wall.

Following similar elections in other eastern states, where the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) made significant gains, the whole of Germany is watching the Brandenburg vote closely to see if there are drastic changes in this state parliament too.

In Germany, 16 state elections take place every four or five years, and "all of them have some impact on federal politics because the federal states play a big role," Timm Beichelt, professor of European studies at the European University Viadrina, told Euronews.

He said that based on the latest polls, "there will probably be a shrinking of two parties from the federal government's traffic light coalition [made up of centre-left, centre-right and green parties]. So, there are already significant changes. The signal to the federal government is strong, and locally, too."

However, he said the results may not be as dramatic as the other two eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony, which voted on 1 September.

In Thuringia, populist parties AfD and far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) gained more than 50% of votes, and AfD came in first — the first time that a far-right party had won a state election since Nazi Germany.

In Saxony, the AfD gained a close second most votes after the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).

The polls suggest the populist parties in Brandenburg may win 40% of the votes.

"This means that 60% are still for established or mainstream parties. Who will win or lose remains to be seen," Beichelt said.

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