Germany could face months of political uncertainty after the federal election on Feb. 23 as opposition chief Friedrich Merz, whose conservative CDU/CSU bloc is far ahead in the polls, will almost certainly have to form a coalition to secure a majority.

Germany's far-right party, Alternative for Germany, has seen gains in popularity in recent years — Jan Techau, a director on Eurasia Group's Europe team, discusses.

Alternative for Germany appears to be heading for its strongest national election result yet this month and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country. The far-right party first entered Germany's national parliament eight years ago on the back of discontent with the arrival of large numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s,