Ahead of two key state elections in Germany, the head of the German Federation of Industry has accused the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party of being economically incompetent, and warned that if they were to win either state it would make labor problems in Germany worse. He joins a growing number of business and industry leaders speaking out against the AfD.

Speaking to the German news outlet die Welt, Siegfried Russwurm was candid in his criticism of the AfD. He said the party's xenophobia would worsen skills shortages in the German labor market.

"The participation of the AfD in the government would be seriously harmful to the economy and prosperity in East Germany," Russwurm told Welt.

State elections in Thuringia and Saxony in early September are being watched closely. The far-right AfD party, which campaigns against immigration to Germany and has a history of controversial remarks on race relations, has been steadily gaining support in the two Eastern states. [...]

The party has not done much to allay those fears. Ahead of the election in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, the state's AfD chief, spoke out against a business initiative called "Made in Germany. Made by Vielfalt (diversity)" which advocates for and celebrates diversity in German workplaces. The initiative was set up in part as a reaction to concerns that xenophobia could worsen Germany's already dire labor problems. Höcke lashed out at the initiative, wishing them "severe economic turbulence" and saying he would not buy from any of the companies in the initiative, which counts beloved German brands such as Sennheiser and Miele among its members. [...]