Public support for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc has equaled that of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), according to the results of a poll conducted by the INSA institute on behalf of the Bild newspaper, DPA reported.
Respondents who say that if the elections were held today, they would vote for the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) bloc amount to 26 percent.
The AfD has been reporting support of 26 percent for weeks, and it previously outpaced all parties in the ruling coalition. Support for the CDU/CSU and AfD had not been equal since September last year.
Merz's junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), gained one percentage point to 16 percent. This is the best result for the Social Democrats since June 2025.
Public support for the "Greens" and the "Left" remained unchanged from the previous poll, at 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
Two of the smaller political parties, the "Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason" and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), received 4 percent and 3 percent respectively and failed to pass the 5 percent threshold to enter the Bundestag, according to the poll.
The INSA poll was conducted between January 26 and 30 among 1,204 Germans eligible to vote.