Member of the European Parliament and head of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) Jörg Mojten was extremely happy about the unexpected vote in the Thuringia provincial parliament.
There, the provincial prime minister from among the liberals was elected by the votes of the Liberals, the Christian Democrats and the AfD.
This caused a political upheaval in Germany and the unhappy prime minister offered to resign just a day later.
However, the fact that the AfD, a party that describes itself as populist and with which no one wants to cooperate, participated in the election of the prime minister for the first time led Mojten to declare that his party has entered the "civilian camp".
For years, the more moderate wing of the AfD has been trying to place itself under the epithet "civic", which in Germany is almost synonymous with moderate conservatism.
The AfD, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals now form a "civilian circle," Mojten told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
In the vast majority of the political scene, this one joint vote was met with loud criticism.
There was talk of breaking taboos, of allowing populists to influence the formation of government in Germany as well.
For Europe's right-wing populists, who make up the fourth-strongest caucus in the European Parliament, the events in Thuringia are another big step forward, indicative of a trend that has been going on across the EU for years.
In many countries, right-wing populists participate in government, represent the strongest opposition groups, or have significantly weakened traditional parties.
Until this Wednesday, Germany was an exception.
Right-wing populists in Austria and Italy have been hit hard in recent months.
The event from Thuringia will certainly give them wings again.
The European parliamentary group called "Identity and Democracy" includes, in addition to the Alternative for Germany, Italian radical Matteo Salvini's Lega, the Austrian Libertarians and the French National Rally of Marine Le Pen.
The right has been normal in Austria for a long time
The Freedom Party of Austria has participated in government at the federal level several times.
The conservative Austrian People's Party, with the "flexible" Sebastian Kurc at the helm, came close to the positions of the Libertarians and, so to speak, embraced them as a coalition partner in the previous government.
Until the scandal in Ibiza, the Libertarians were even in the provincial government in Gradišće with the Social Democrats.
The head of the Freedom Party parliamentary group, Herbert Kikl, criticized the opposition of the parties in Thuringia to the election of the prime minister with the help of the AfD, saying that it was "a caricature of democracy reminiscent of the totalitarianism of the self-proclaimed guardians of the holy grail".
In Italy, the boundaries between the Christian Democrats, conservatives and right-wing radicals have long since collapsed. Silvio Berlusconi's conservative "Forca" openly cooperates with the populist Lega and the neo-Nazi "Frateli d'Italia".
Those three parties want the left camp with the Social Democrats and the left populists from the Five Star Movement to win in the next elections.
Lega was already in the last government in Rome, and its leader Matteo Salvini was the interior minister.
The party is still very popular, although it recently narrowly lost regional elections in the province of Emilia-Romagna.
"Breaking the taboo" - that radical right-wingers are not allowed to come to power - happened in Italy many years ago.
In the north of that country, populists rule cities, municipalities and entire regions.
Strengthening of the right wing
In France, Marine Le Pen's National Rally is hoping for success in local elections in March.
Le Pen renamed the "National Front" to "National Gathering" two years ago, and has long penetrated the traditional conservative electorate.
Formerly conservative parties are now marginal and at odds with each other.
At the local and regional level, politicians of the National Gathering are already in power in some places.
Le Pen would like to become president in 2022 by defeating the liberal head of state, Emmanuel Macron.
He beat Le Pen in the second round three years ago.
According to public opinion polls, Le Pen has a slight lead since the fall.
In Spain, the conservatives in Andalusia are in a ruling coalition with the right-wing populist Vox.
At the national level, Vox is the third strongest party and is increasingly penetrating the civil camp.
In the Netherlands, the liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte has two populist parties.
In Belgium, which has been without a government for 14 months, according to polls, the right-wing "Vlams Belang" would currently win the most votes.
In Finland, the right-wing populists are only a few per thousand in second place behind the Social Democrats. And the populists were already in power there.
That list could go on. In Poland and Hungary, nationalists and populists are in power with large majorities. The civil liberal camp there has been weakening for years.
Is Germany also moving in that direction?
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged during the financial crisis as a party skeptical of the euro, the common currency.
With that theme, in the 2013 elections, only six months after its creation, they almost entered the parliament.
Then, with two leadership changes and big fights in the party, they turned more and more to the right, opposing the government's migration policy.
Currently, the AfD is the strongest opposition party in the Bundestag.
All other parties - Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, Greens, Left and Liberals - for now refuse any form of cooperation with the right-wing.
Thus, Liberals and Christian Democrats are trying to present the election of the prime minister in Thuringia with the help of AfD votes as a one-time slip that will be annulled.
It is not yet certain whether, after the resignation of the prime minister, there will be new elections or whether the old prime minister, the leftist Bodo Ramelov, could still secure a majority.
In the long term, it could happen that Germany follows the trend in Europe.
Large traditional parties are losing popularity or disappearing completely.
The edges of the political spectrum are getting stronger, more on the right than on the left.
Occasional failures of right-wing populists, such as in Austria or Italy, slow down this development, but do not stop it.
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