Germany: Rostock shipyards, symbol of a left-wing stronghold sought by the far right
As regional elections approach on September 20, the AfD hopes to wrest the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from the Social Democrats, a region still marked by unemployment stemming from German reunification in 1990.
According to an article in the daily Le Monde, the Rostock shipyards in northeastern Germany embody a major political stakes ahead of regional elections scheduled for September 20. This territory in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is described as a traditional bastion of the left, now coveted by the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
According to Le Monde, the AfD hopes to capitalize on this election to seize control of the state from the Social Democrats (SPD), who have wielded historic influence there. The region remains, according to the newspaper, marked by the consequences of mass unemployment that followed German reunification in 1990, a lasting economic and social trauma in this part of former East Germany.
Rostock's naval sector, once an industrial pillar of the region under the East German Democratic Republic regime, is presented as a symbol of the economic transformations this territory has undergone since the fall of the Berlin Wall. This industrial and social history feeds, according to the article, current political tensions as the vote approaches.
The outcome of these regional elections will be closely watched at both local and national levels as an indicator of the AfD's progress in the former eastern German states, a decade after its emergence on the federal political scene.
Sources
- En Allemagne, les chantiers navals de Rostock, un bastion de la gauche convoité par l’extrême droite — Le Monde — Une
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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