Germany's Scholz campaigns in Brandenburg ahead of key state election
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday campaigned for his Social Democratic Party (SPD) ahead of key elections in the eastern state of Brandenburg that are being watched at home and abroad amid fears of the rise of the far right.
"For me, it is very important that Brandenburg continues to progress in the future," Scholz told dpa on a visit to a film museum in the state capital of Potsdam, near Berlin.
Brandenburg is currently governed by the SPD under Premier Dietmar Woidke, but Scholz's party is neck-and-neck with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in polls before Sunday's vote.
However, Scholz is hoping that the SPD can retain its hold on the state, pointing to its strong economic growth in recent years.
"The state has enormous economic growth - and that has a lot to do with Dietmar Woidke," the chancellor said.
Scholz called his colleague a "first-class premier" and said the state's residents, including himself, want Woidke "to remain as head of government in Brandenburg."
The chancellor also said that he has already sent in his postal vote, as he is due to attend a United Nations summit in New York on Sunday.
Woidke had previously stated that he would resign if the SPD does not win the election in Brandenburg, but polls suggest the party is in a tight race with the AfD.
A survey released on Thursday by public broadcaster ZDF shows the AfD on 28%, just ahead of the SPD on 27%.
The Brandenburg SPD is thus far ahead of the national party, which has been languishing in the polls due to the struggles of Germany's SPD-led coalition government in Berlin.
Woidke has largely avoided campaign appearances with Scholz, seeking to disassociate himself from the unpopular chancellor.
But if the AfD wins on September 22, it would be only the second time they have achieved this in a state election since they were founded.
Earlier this month, they won their first state election in Thuringia.
As concerns grow in Germany and abroad about the rise of the far right and disenchantment with mainstream politics, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock commented that the Brandenburg vote will be closely followed beyond Germany.
She also underlined Germany's support for Ukraine, saying Berlin would continue backing Kiev by providing weapons.
"We will support Ukraine as long as this terrorist war continues," she told a gathering of her Green Party in Potsdam. "Because otherwise it will be the end of Ukraine."
She said the war would end when Russian President Vladimir Putin withdraws his troops. "If we don't support Ukraine during this time, then Ukraine will be finished and we won't allow that."
Ukraine has been fighting off a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two and a half years. Despite Western backing, the war is raging on and has now spread to Russian territory as Ukrainian troops press into the Kursk border area in a bid to bring Putin to the negotiating table.
