Following an historic election in Germany, the AfD is set to enter parliament not only for the first time, but as the third strongest party. It’s also the first time a far-right political party has entered the Bundestag since the end of the Second World War.

The AfD’s popularity has surged amid Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door migration policy, which saw around a million migrants enter Germany in 2015 alone. After the exit polls were announced, AfD lead candidate Alice Weidel promised a parliamentary inquiry into Merkel.

“The first thing that we will do in the Bundestag is to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into Angela Merkel”, said party co-chair Alice Weidel.

Fellow lead candidate Alexander Gauland added:

“As we appear to be the third strongest party, the next government to be formed needs to be prepared: we will chase them, we will hunt down Angela Merkel or whoever, we will chase them.”

The party campaigned on a strong anti-immigration platform. It says immigration jeopardises the country’s culture, but denies it is racist or anti-semitic.