There’s only one way to keep Germany’s far-right AfD at bay. Address the concerns it exploits | Katja Hoyer

There are good reasons to place a political firewall around the extremists. But mainstream parties must also address the electorate's loss of trust

We're all waiting with bated breath. This is a fateful election," a friend from Leipzig told me on Sunday. It was polling day in her state of Saxony and in neighbouring Thuringia. The atmosphere was tense, even fearful. Much more was at stake than just a reshuffle of seats in two of Germany's regional parliaments.

As expected, Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) won in Thuringia with nearly 33% of the vote, and came second in Saxony with almost 31%. For the first time since the second world war, a far-right party has become a significant political force in Germany.

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