— Now we've covered the topic of the rise of AfD in recent weeks, we would like to turn your attention to another interesting phenomenon happening in German politics, that of the popular Die Linke politician Sahra Wagenknecht and speculation that she could start her own party.

🇩🇪 Sahra Wagenknecht, to sum up her views very briefly, is on the far-left economically; leans right on social issues, including immigration; and on foreign policy is considered to be pro-Russian, anti-American and anti-Zionist. She's very critical of "woke culture" and during COVID she became a prominent voice advocating against lockdowns and even the COVID jab, which she refused to take. She's similar to Britain's George Galloway in many ways. You could even consider her to be a NazBol kek.

🇩🇪 Sahra Wagenknecht explaining why she is against the COVID vaccine, 6 months ago (video can be auto-translated into English via settings).

https://youtu.be/Cbnrgm8V4uo

— As you can expect, Wagenknecht, despite her left-wing economic views, doesn't fit into the modern day Die Linke, which has increasingly been moving in a more progressive and some would say "woke" direction.

Additionally, while Die Linke is against the sanctions policy of the German government and generally-speaking opposes American hegemony, the party doesn't take an openly pro-Russian position in the war like Frau Wagenknecht. This has caused a lot of tension.

— One such incident of the "woke" faction of Die Linke becoming increasingly frustrated with Wagenknecht was in 2016, when she was hit in the face with a cream pie by a party activist for her stance against migrants.

🇩🇪 BILD: "Is the Wagenknecht party coming?"

— Anyways, to cut a long story short, basically the tensions between Sahra Wagenknecht and her progressive colleagues have reached a crisis point in the last few weeks and there's growing signs that she may leave Die Linke altogether and start her own political party, one that would aim to combine left-wing politics with anti-migration policies and support for Russia.

🇩🇪 BILD/INSA poll:

Can imagine voting for a "Wagenknecht party": 30% (of which 10% say "very sure")

Would like to see a party with Sahra Wagenknecht at its head in the next federal election: 33% (Die Linke voters: 66%; AfD voters 63%)

— Anyways, just thought we'd let you know about these latest developments. On to other news!

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Within less than a day since the blast happened, the Kerch Strait bridge has already reopened to traffic from mainland Russia.

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🇫🇷 Fuel crisis in France causes long queues to gas stations. Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France, where the capital Paris is located, are particularly affected.

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🇦🇹 Austria holds the first round of its presidential election today. 6.4 million people are eligible to vote. Polling stations opened at varying times this morning and will close at 5PM (CEST).

We will be providing full coverage over the course of the day.

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🇦🇹 Incumbent President Alexander Van der Bellen (GRÜNE) is running for reelection, with his candidacy backed by SPÖ (centre-left), Die Grünen (green) and NEOS (liberal). Opinion polls have his support at between 48-59%.

FPÖ candidate Walter Rosenkranz (nationalist) and Beer Party candidate Dominik Wlazny (satire party) are polling second and third place, respectively.

Incumbent presidents, due to their largely ceremonial status and general adherence to impartiality, usually maintain a high approval rating and hence aren't easily voted out of office, in part explaining Van der Bellen's wide margin over his rivals.

If Van der Bellen achieves over 50% of the vote he will win outright and retain the presidency, but if he misses the mark even slightly a second round will be held on November 6.

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🇩🇪 Lower Saxony holds its state election today. 6.1 million people are eligible to vote. Polling stations opened at 8AM (CEST) and will close at 6PM.

We will be providing full coverage over the course of the day.

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🇩🇪 Lower Saxony is the second largest state in Germany by area and the fourth most populous (8 million people). Its political history has been dominated by the centre-right CDU and centre-left SPD, who currently govern the state. Stephan Weil (SPD) is the Minister President.

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🇩🇪 The German city of Cottbus holds its mayoral election today. 80,000 people are eligible to vote. Polling stations opened at 8AM (CEST) and will close at 6PM.

We will be providing full coverage over the course of the day.

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