> maybe being part of the government for the first time will make the AfD look bad

Yeah, that’s what happened to the FPÖ in Austria. They looked bad after being in a coalition for the first time, but recently the FPÖ won the election in September. Not sure how similar the parties are though. 

Brothers of Italy won the 2022 elections, have a prime minister, and are as popular as ever, even though they have softened a bit in their rhetoric I would say. 

Situation with parties like the AfD is similar in many other European countries.

oliverweiss

econ

Olaf Scholz fires  Finance Minister

siggy47

As part of the government? In the past, nobody wanted to rule with them but I think the CDU/CSU started to express interest since you can't ignore them anymore with >20% in East Germany. So maybe chances are good. I don't want them as part of the government though. CDU/CSU+AfD is literally my worst nightmare, lol.

But maybe being part of the government for the first time will make the AfD look bad. Some parties work better as part of the opposition by complaining about decisions instead of coming up with decisions.