The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the state of Thuringia, Björn Höcke, said his candidate's success in a local election was a prelude to further victories at local and state level.
After the AfD's Robert Sesselmann won the post of district administrator in Sonneberg in a run-off vote on Sunday, Höcke said the party wanted to take this momentum into the upcoming district council elections.
"And then we'll prepare for the state elections in the east, where we can really create a political earthquake," he said, referring to state parliament elections in the eastern states of Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg.
