Readers debate root causes of AfD's rise in eastern Germany

According to The Guardian, readers have written in response to an opinion piece by Carolin Würfel examining why Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has achieved recent electoral success in Germany's eastern states.

One letter agrees that AfD's rise reflects resentment of west German dominance following the 1990 reunification, but argues that the process of reunification could not realistically have taken a different path, since alternatives risked mass migration to West Germany. The letter states that the outcome is therefore not simply the fault of western politicians and industrialists.

The letter writer suggests that one alternative could have helped: building a distinct conservative-centrist party to represent the east, rather than extending existing western parties into the region. The writer notes that Die Linke played a similar representative role from the left for a time, and argues AfD now fills that role from the right.