German far-right leader Höcke hails ‘historic victory’ in Thuringia

The firebrand leader of the far - right Alternative for Germany ( AfD ) in the state of Thuringia , Bj ö rn H ö cke , hailed his party ' s projected lead in state parliamentary elections there on Sunday as an " historic victory ." H ö cke , who has become a household name in Germany for his fiery extremist rhetoric , gave a brief speech to supporters at an election evening party in the state capital of Erfurt . H ö cke contended that he wants to lead a coalition government in the state and plans to invite other politicians for coalition talks . Every other major German political party has categorically ruled out any cooperation with the AfD , who many view as too extreme and a danger to Germany ' s democratic traditions . " We are ready to take government responsibility ," H ö cke said on Sunday evening , noting that tradition has normally given the top - performing party the first chance to form a coalition . Chants of " H ö cke , H ö cke !" and " Here we go !" could be heard from outside the event , wh ich was closed to the media at the last minute . The results would mark the first time that the AfD has won a state parliamentary election and is likely to be seen as a major breakthrough for the far right in Germany . Projections based on exit polls released shortly after the end of voting at 6 pm ( 1600 GMT ) on Sunday forecast the AfD to take about a third of the vote in the state . Those forecasts put the far - right party seven to nine percentage points ahead of the centre - right Christian Democrats ( CDU ) in second place . dpa uk vrb xxde bst era Source: The Namibia News Agency