Alternative for Germany appears to be heading for its strongest national election result yet this month and has become a factor that can’t be ignored.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met on Friday with Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, while on a visit to Germany, an official in Vance's office said, according to a pool report.

This recent polling data will come as a surprise to many. Like many of the “new right” parties in Europe, the AfD began as an anti-immigration party. Its support began to rise in direct response to Angela Merkel’s decision in

In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio due to be broadcast on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Vance's remarks as highly unusual, adding that Germany had a firewall against extreme right-wing parties for a good reason, citing Germany's past under National Socialism.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is hosting Alice Weidel, the Alternative for Germany party's candidate for chancellor, a rare meeting between a European leader and Germany’s far-right party.

An endorsement from Elon Musk, 5 million euros in financial donations this year alone, and now an invitation to meet Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban: once isolated, the far-right Alternative for Germany has a growing number of friends.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday criticized reported comments by US Vice President JD Vance urging mainstream German political parties to cooperate with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).