German Chancellor Scholz expresses concern about the rise of extreme right-wing forces in local elections.

Berlin, September 2 (Reuters)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the results of the two local elections where the far-right party AfD won and the coalition government suffered a defeat as "bitter", and called on mainstream parties to establish a government without the "extremist right-wing".

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has become the first far-right party to win in a state parliamentary election in Germany since World War II, according to the results of the vote in Thuringia over the weekend. According to late Sunday predictions, AfD came in second place by a narrow margin in Saxony to the Conservative Party.

However, the AfD, which is considered a right-wing extremist party by the security authorities in the two eastern German states, is unlikely to take power as other parties have refused to cooperate with AfD in order to form a majority.

Nevertheless, this nationalist, anti-immigrant, pro-Russian party has gained enough seats in both states to block decisions requiring a two-thirds majority, such as the appointment of judges and top security officials, and could wield unprecedented power.

"The results of AfD in Saxony and Thuringia are a cause for concern," said Mr. Scholz in a statement to Reuters. He explicitly stated that he was speaking as a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).

"Our country cannot and should not get used to this. AfD is causing damage to Germany. It weakens the economy, divides society, and ruins the reputation of our country."

With one year left until the general election in Germany, Sunday's results dealt a blow to Mr. Scholz's fragile coalition government and could intensify internal strife.

All three governing parties lost votes, and only Mr. Scholz's SPD easily cleared the 5% threshold required to remain in the state parliaments.

The Left Party, a new left-wing populist party founded by former members of the East German Communist Party, called the Bündnis Sachsen, Thüringen alliance (BSW), surpassed all three coalition parties in its first state election and came in third place.

"The election result on Sunday was bitter for us," said Mr. Scholz. However, he pointed out that the more pessimistic prediction of the SPD dropping out of the state parliament for the first time had not materialized.

Both the Green Party, a minority coalition partner, and the business-oriented Free Democratic Party, dropped out of the Thuringian state parliament.

The election result on Sunday may put pressure on the government to take an even stricter stance on the immigration issue and intensify the debate over the support for Ukraine, which was a focus of the election campaign.