Chancellor Olaf Scholz described election results in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony which saw surging support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as “bitter.” At the same time, Scholz expressed relief that “gloomy forecasts” which predicted his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) could plunge out of both state parliaments did not come to pass. But Scholz said the AfD’s show of strength, with nearly a third of all votes cast in both states, particularly concerning. “Our country cannot and must not get used to this,” Scholz said in a post on Instagram on Monday, his first c…