Supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, attend an election campaign rally of the party in Suhl, Germany, Aug. 13, 2024. The pennant in center reads "The East does it". (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
An election campaign poster of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, promising "summer, sun, remigration" and depicting a plane with the logo "Deportation-Hansa." is displayed at a lamp post in the center of Erfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
FILE - German politician Sahra Wagenknecht arrives for a news conference to announce the founding of Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance party in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
A young man with a bag reading "The east does it" attends an election campaign rally of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, party in Suhl, Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Election campaign posters of the Christian Democratic Union party, CDU, with top candidate Mario Voigt and of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance are displayed at a lamp post in Jena, Germany, Aug. 13, 2024. State elections in Thuringia and Saxony scheduled on Sunday Sept. 1, 2024, in the eastern Germany states. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Bjoern Hoecke top candidate in Thuringia of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, party waves to supporters during an election campaign rally in Suhl, Germany, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
FILE - Joerg Urban, top candidate of German Alternative for Germany, AfD, party for the Saxony state elections, attends an election campaign rally of his party in Bautzen, Aug. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, listens to opposition leader Friedrich Merz, front, of the Christian Democrats during the debate at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
An election campaign poster of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, showing the top candidate for Thuringia Bjoern Hoecke and the slogans " The East does it" and "Almost forbiddenly good" is displayed at a street in Jena, Germany, Aug. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
An election campaign poster with the slogans "The east does it" and "There are only two", depicting there are only two genders, is displayed at a lamp post in Erfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
FILE - Opposition Christian Union parties floor leader Friedrich Merz arrives for the second day of the budget 2024 debate at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Friederich Merz delivers a speech during a debate about Germany's budget crisis at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Nov. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)