Germany: AfD's Gauland says 'the fight starts now' after historic state election results

W/S Alternative for Germany (AfD) supporters cheering, Werder
M/S AfD supporters cheering
M/S AfD supporters clapping
M/S AfD supporters chanting (German): "Kalbitz, Kalbitz, Kalbitz!"
W/S AfD supporters clapping
W/S Brandenburg AfD leader Andreas Kalbitz on stage with exit poll resluts
M/S AfD supporters chanting (German): "Kalbitz, Kalbitz, Kalbitz!"
SOT, Andreas Kalbitz, Brandenburg AfD leader (German): "The Union [Christian Democratic Union Party] has also shown in Brandenburg that they cannot do anything. It was already clear as Senftleben supposedly went hiking instead of meeting people, but that is not my problem. We have done an amazing job. We have every reason to celebrate today and from tomorrow we will work hard, even harder."
M/S Cameraman
M/S Kalbitz on stage and supporters chanting
M/S AfD supporters clapping
W/S AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland moving to podium
SOT, Alexander Gauland, AfD co-leader (German): "This is a great success. Yes, I admit that it would have been even better if we were first. But in Brandenburg we reached 20+6. And dear friends, another thing has been reached, we are the biggest citizen's opposition in Brandenburg. The CDU from Senftleben doesn't exist anymore."
M/S AfD supporters chanting: "AfD" *UPSOUND*
SOT, Alexander Gauland, AfD co-leader (German): "The fight is not over. The fight starts now, but we have become much more stronger. No one can remove us from German politics anymore. We're staying there!"
M/S AfD supporters clapping
M/S AfD supporter
M/S Gauland walking past
SCRIPT
The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alexander Gauland said that "the fight starts now," while addressing supporters in the town of Werder, in east Germany's Brandenburg, after his party achieved historic election results in elections in the state and neighbouring Saxony on Sunday.
"The fight is not over. The fight starts now, but we have become much more stronger. No one can remove us from German politics anymore. We're staying there!" Gauland told supporters.
Exit polls for the regional elections indicate that the AfD will emerge as the second largest party in both states with 27.9 percent of the vote in Saxony and 23.5 percent of the vote in Brandenburg.
Gauland went on to tell supporters that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) "doesn't exist anymore" in the state of Brandenburg. The party is projected fall to 15.3 percent in the region, a 7.3 percent drop from the last elections in 2014.
Brandenburg's AfD leader Andreas Kalbitz also trumpeted his party's success saying that the CDU "has also shown in Brandenburg that they cannot do anything."
"We have done an amazing job. We have all the reasons to celebrate today and from tomorrow we will work hard, even harder," Kalbitz added.
The governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) maintained its position as the strongest party in Brandenburg, with 26.2 percent of the vote, a 5.7 percent decline on the 2014 elections, but its coalition partners, the Left Party plunged from 18.6 percent of the vote to 10.7 percent.
The election results in Brandenburg dictate that any coalition which excludes the AfD would have to be made up of at least three parties, setting the stage for a likely protracted period of negotiations between the SPD and other parties.