The Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party won 6.1% of the vote, finishing fourth in this weekend’s state election in Saarland. The small western state handed victory to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 41% of the vote. The CDU has championed the replacement of ethnic Germans with Arab, African and other Third World immigrants. The Socialists finished at 29.5%, the Left Party at 13% and the Greens at 4.5% (failing to cross the 5% threshhold to gain representation). In the 2012 Saarland state election German nationalists were unable to win any seats, making the recent election a significant step forward for nationalists.

The AfD is now represented in 11 of Germany’s 16 states. The party is generally more popular in the east of the country where opposition to Third World immigration is stronger. In Saxony-Anhalt’s 2016 state election the AfD scored 24%, making it the second largest party. Its support has dipped somewhat across Germany in recent months after internal struggles between libertarians and nationalists. The party has generally moved in a more nationalist direction over time.