Germany election: far-right AfD loses status as main opposition

Party that entered German parliament in 2017 drops about 2% nationally despite performing strongly in east

The far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), which made a whirlwind entry into the German parliament in 2017, is set to lose its status as the main opposition force following Sunday's election but has at the same time emerged as the strongest party in parts of eastern Germany.

The party, which rose to prominence on an anti-immigrant ticket after the arrival of around 1m refugees in 2015 but has more recently focused its attention on attacking the government's pandemic management, dropped just over 2% nationally to secure 10.3% of the vote.