Germany’s federal elections took place on Sunday, and the preliminary results show right leaning parties dominated the election— with the Conservative Alliance claiming most seats in the federal Parliament, as well as the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party (AfD) winning 20.8% of the vote.

According to researchers in far-right extremism, from the University of Tübingen, writing for The Conversation— the AfD’s breakthrough in Germany’s 2017 federal election shattered the nation's stigma against far-right extremism.

Producer Athena spoke to Professional Teaching Fellow for German at the University of Auckland, Mareike Schmidt, about the rise of the AfD, and her perspective on the federal election results, as a German citizen living in New Zealand.