Support for German far-right AfD drops to 17%, lowest level in months

Support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has dropped to its lowest point since June 2023 as the party polled at 17% on Tuesday.
The AfD lost one percentage point compared to the previous week, according to the poll published by broadcasters RTL/ntv.
According to ntv, the AfD thus slipped to its worst score in the poll since June last year.
Germany has seen a wave of protests against far-right extremism and racism in recent weeks. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in numerous cities, also demonstrating against the AfD.
The protests were triggered by a media report revealing a secret meeting of far-right extremists that was also attended by several AfD officials. At the gathering, participants discussed plans to deport migrants at a large scale.
In Tuesday's poll, the conservative opposition bloc CDU/CSU and the new populist party, the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance, also recorded a drop of one point and would land at 30% and 4% respectively if the general election were held on Sunday.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), junior partner in the centre-right government coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, improved by one percentage point - reaching the 5% hurdle to get into parliament for the first time in a year, according to ntv.
At 15%, 14% and 3% respectively, Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), coalition partner the Greens and the opposition Left Party are all just as popular as in the previous week.
For the poll, more than 2,500 people were surveyed by the opinion research institute Forsa from February 13 to 19.