The AfD reaches a peak in popularity in Germany, according to a poll. The new situation in which traditional parties find themselves
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reached an all-time high of 28% in the voting intention of Germans, according to the weekly INSA survey, four percentage points above the main party of the current ruling coalition, reports Reuters.
AfD's score is the highest ever recorded by INSA, up one percent from the previous week.
The CDU, the conservative party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, stagnated at 24%, while the Greens lost one percentage point from the previous week to 12%. The Social Democrats of the SPD remain at 14%, and Die Linke, the radical left party, stagnates at 11%.
One-color or two-color governments become improbable
Given that 11% of the votes would go to parties that do not exceed the electoral threshold, a governing majority would require at least 45% of the votes obtained by parties that exceed the threshold.
If other parties continue to rule out cooperation with the far-right AfD, viable governing coalitions could be made up of at least three parties, poll data suggests. A coalition between the CDU, SPD and the Greens would get 50%, and one between the CDU, SPD and Die Linke, 49%.
The INSA survey was conducted between April 20-24, on a sample of 1,203 people.
AfD's success in court
In late February, a court in Cologne ruled that Germany's domestic intelligence service (BfV) must not refer to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as far-right for now, a move that favors the party ahead of this year's five regional elections.
The court thus granted a provisional measure requested by the AfD, which contested a 2025 decision by the BfV to refer to the party and treat it as a right-wing extremist group. The interim measure is in place until the court rules on the case itself, but it is unclear when that will happen.
“Following the examination in the summary procedure, it cannot currently be established that the applicant, as a whole, is dominated by the positions discussed above,” the court said in a statement.
In May 2025, the counterintelligence agency classified the far-right AfD party as “extremist,” allowing it to step up monitoring of the country's largest opposition party.
