Following AfD’s victory in Thuringia, race in one of smallest German states in terms of population becomes focus of attention. ZDF projection puts SPD at 32%, AfD at 29% 17:09 A second exit poll,

By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) -Polls opened on Sunday in the German state of Brandenburg, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is projected to finish first, aiming to build on recent successes in other eastern states and surpass Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in this traditional stronghold.

Germans began casting ballots Sunday for a regional election in a formerly communist eastern state where the far-right AfD party is narrowly ahead in opinion polls.The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany has long railed against Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unpopular coalition government,