BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

Germany is having a fit of the wobbles.

Run by a traffic-like coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, its economy is growing

slowly, if at all.

And this month's regional elections in the former East Germany, where the far-right

AFD party came first in the state of Thuringia have led to alarm amongst the mainstream

national parties.

So, is Germany in trouble?

If so, how much and why?

Step inside the briefing room and together we'll find out.

First, we'll talk about the current political situation in Germany and later we'll turn to the economy.

With me, I have Constanza Steltsinmuller, who's director of the Centre on the United States and Europe

at the Brookings Institution in Washington,

and Guy Chazan, Berlin Bureau Chief for the Financial Times.

Guy Chazan, the far-right AFD Party, Alternative of Deutsche Party, did well in the recent state elections, East Germany.

Can you just explain very briefly for the listener who they are?

And are they like the other far-right parties in Europe

that the listeners will have heard of, like Marine Le Pen's Rézondement Nacional in France?

Well, the interesting thing about the AFD is that they're very much not like parties like

the Rézomlemen Nacional. You have these big far-right parties in Europe, like the RN, that have

basically detoxified their brand over the past few years. They've abandoned some of their

anti-Semitic baggage. They've tried to become more popular, more appealing to mainstream voters.

...