After winning the most seats in the recent Thuringia regional election and the second-most in the Saxony vote, the far-right AfD is hoping for further gains in the eastern German state of Brandenburg.

Germans in the state of Brandenburg were voting in a regional election on Sunday with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expected to finish first, building on successes in other eastern states and beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in one of their traditional strongholds.

The premier of the eastern German state of Brandenburg, Dietmar Woidke, has described the performance of his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) in Sunday's state elections as a great success. "We have made up ground like never before in the history of our state,

Sunday's vote followed a heated election campaign centred on the issues of migration, internal security and peace. View on euronews

There are signs of high turnout in Sunday's election in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, officials said. By 2 pm (1200 GMT), a total of 46.1% of eligible voters had already cast ballots, according to the state's election administrator.

The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) appear headed for a narrow election victory over the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, according to initial projected results.