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00:00The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats have staved off
00:04the far-right in a regional election.
00:06What is being seen as a last-minute comeback.
00:08The win, then, likely providing him with a reprieve,
00:11if only brief, from growing criticism of his leadership.
00:14The SPD winning 31% of the vote,
00:17with the far-right AFD winning over 29%.
00:20Earlier this month, you'll remember, the AFD became the first
00:23far-right party to win a state election in Germany since World War II.
00:27Earlier, we spoke to a correspondent in Berlin.
00:29Nick Holdsworth, and he was asked what this could mean
00:32for the soon-to-come federal elections in Germany.
00:37We've got federal elections coming up in September of next year.
00:42The ruling coalition will be under a lot of pressure from the AFD.
00:46What does need to be said, though, is that the AFD's popularity
00:50is largely in the east, in those former East German states,
00:55where, to this day, there are disparities in pension income,
01:00in the number of people who are in senior management positions,
01:03that sort of thing.
01:04There's a degree of resentment.
01:06However, all of these states in East Germany
01:09have slight differences in history and tradition,
01:13and that is all reflected in the way they vote.
01:16There is a common concern about immigration,
01:18which is the key issue which the AFD has been campaigning on.
01:22But it's not by any means universally saying,
01:27shut the doors, send them back,
01:29the sort of things we sometimes hear from the AFD.
01:32And in West Germany, again, a very different tradition.
01:37The AFD unlikely to make much headway in West Germany.
01:41So when it comes to those federal elections next year,
01:44the AFD are going to be putting on a very tough battle
01:47against the ruling coalition.
01:50However, they may not do as well across Germany
01:53as they've done in these specific states
01:56in the former East of Germany.