Far-Right second in German poll

THE nationalist Alternative For Germany (AfD) is now Germany’s second most popular party, according to a poll.

The hard-Right, anti-immigration party surpassed the Social Democrats (SPD) for the first time. Its support rose to 16 per cent – half a point above the centreLeft SPD – in the poll by newspaper Bild.

This represents a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party, on 32 per cent, as it hopes to strike a coalition deal with the SPD in two weeks’ time.

Mrs Merkel’s pledge to offer financial support to ailing eurozone nations and open up German borders to a million refugees was seized upon by the AfD during the federal election campaign last year. The party came third with 12.6 per cent – but if the coalition is agreed on March it will become the official opposition in the Bundestag.