BERLIN (Reuters) -Support for Germany’s far right surged in local elections in the country’s most populous state on Sunday, sending a warning to conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s four-month-old national coalition with the Social Democrats, early projections showed.

Initial forecasts from pollster infratest dimap for broadcaster ARD after voting ended for councils, districts and mayors in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia showed support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had more than tripled to 16.5% from 2020.

Merz’s conservatives remained the strongest party, scoring 34% of the vote, roughly the same level as five years ago. The Social Democrats (SPD) slipped to 22.5% from 24.3%, according to infratest dimap.

“I am looking at the AfD’s results with great conc

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