Germany's choice

Berlin: Mecklenburg-Pomerania, situated in the northeast, is the most anonymous and sparsely-populated federal German state. Its name rarely makes the headlines, not only because of its difficult pronunciation.

The Germans, incidentally, have found an original way to solve this semantic problem. They have nicknamed the remote province Mac-Pom, roughly translated as "Mac-Fries," which lends a "foreign" ambience to the historic homeland of the impoverished Prussian nobles and forgotten communist activists.

Some two million of Germany's population of 80 million reside in Mecklenburg-Pomerania. It is the land of a thousand lakes and a well-known tourist destination affording breathtaking views, picturesque castles and long beaches. However, the local economy is in ruin and unemployment is high.

Local mentality a hindrance

Contrary to other areas in former communist East Germany, Mac-Pom has been unable to recuperate since the reunification.

The fact that Mac-Pom is the electoral province of German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn't help matters much, while the local mentality hasn't been instrumental. When Merkel recently hosted President Bush in Mac-Pom, residents complained about the high expenses incurred by the presidential visit and the inconvenience posed by the strict security measures implemented.

Last Sunday Mecklenburg-Pomerania became the hottest topic in German politics when the neo-Nazi National Party (NPD) made history by passing the voting threshold and entering the local parliament with six representatives. In the last elections four years ago, the party received just 0.8 percent of the total vote. This week it gained 7.1 percent of the popular vote.

Mac-Pom has become the fourth largest German state among the 16 federal states with neo-Nazi representatives in its parliament. For clarification's sake: This figure comprises a quarter of the federal states in Germany.

Three of the federal states that granted representation to neo-Nazi parties are located in East Germany. Added to this is the fact that the NPD succeeded in securing representation in four Berlin states, formerly part of East Germany.

Expressing ceremonial apprehensions

German politicians from both Left and Right expressed the ceremonial apprehensions reserved especially for such occasions. But in fact it was a predictable outcome.

The composition of the current cabinet, a coalition that includes two major parties, and the unification of the conservatives and the social-democrats are a sure path to a people's protest against the political margins.

Although the economic situation has improved somewhat in recent months and even unemployment has declined, the simple man on the street does not feel he is benefiting from the stability. Worse than that, ordinary residents sense they are the ones paying the price.

The neo-Nazi's prime target electorate is the younger generation. The highest number of votes came from voters aged 18 to 24, and NPD became the third largest party after the two ruling parties.

Bloody scuffles

The party is putting a lot of effort into adopting an image of a "centrist" party, while at the same time it is communicating its violent messages that ignite bloody scuffles with its political foes.

The recent elections in Berlin were the most violent since the end of World War II. Such scuffles often ended with injured left-wing activists.

If according to so many youngsters the NPD is a legitimate choice, Germany's future will face a severe problem. Perhaps this is the right time for the German government to reassess its decision to significantly cut back the budget allocated to educational programs aimed at educating youth against right-wing extremism.