Photo: DPALeif-Erik Holm of Germany's right-wing populist AfD party cultivates a radio DJ's smooth, soothing voice, sports fashionable chin stubble and crisp dress shirts, and has one goal this month: ousting Angela Merkel. Holm is challenging Merkel in the district on the Baltic Sea that she has represented since she was a fresh-faced political newcomer in 1990 when Germany reunited. "Mrs Merkel single-handedly opened the borders - we can't ever forget that," he told AFP in the coastal town of Greifswald. He said the AfD was instead looking to homegrown strategies to shield the country from foreign influence and put Germans first. Although Holm said AfD supporters feel intimidated on the country's market squares, it has been the chancellor herself who has faced booing and chants of "Merkel must go!"

Source: The Local September 15, 2017 07:30 UTC