17.08.2024, 12:12
Berlin. A majority of East German industrial companies are warning against the AfD becoming stronger. This is the result of a survey by the German Economic Institute (IW) among around 900 companies from industry or industry-related services in East and West, which was reported on by “Spiegel”.
According to the study, 59 percent of East German companies see the party’s strengthening as a risk to securing skilled workers and the continued existence of the EU and the euro as “more of a risk”. More than half of those surveyed in East Germany also see dangers for the business location and investment decisions. In contrast, depending on the aspect, only five to 15 percent believe that the AfD could be “more of an opportunity”.
The proportion of positive assessments of the party is therefore slightly higher in the East than in the West (three to eight percent). 22 percent of companies in the West and 29 percent in the East find “some of the AfD’s positions sensible or fundamentally justifiable.”
In Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, a new state parliament will be elected in September. In all three states, the AfD could become the strongest party, as it did in the European elections in June. “Given the AfD’s significantly higher election and poll results in East Germany and the more fragmented economic structure, it is surprising that the risks associated with the party are rated almost as highly as by West German companies,” said study author Knut Bergmann.
However, in the East, significantly fewer company representatives (29 percent) say they have actively taken a public stance against the AfD than in the West, where 50 percent do so. Within the company, 42 percent in the East are critical of the AfD, compared to 56 percent in the West.
There are also major differences in the assessment of economic policy competence: in the west, companies gave the party an average grade of 5.0, the second worst grade after the Left Party (5.2). In the east, however, companies put the AfD in third place with an average grade of 4.1. In both parts of the country, the CDU/CSU and FDP took first place with average grades of 2.8 and 3.1 respectively.
more news from the region
