Nationalist party may gain wins as 3 German states vote

A rising nationalist party may ride unease about Chancellor Angela Merkel's migrant policy to perform strongly in three German state elections this weekend, the first significant political test since last year's massive influx of people seeking safety and a better life.

Alternative for Germany, or AfD, formed three years ago, is wooing voters with slogans such as "ENOUGH!" and "Secure borders instead of borderless crime."

The party is expected to enter legislatures on March 13 in the diverse regions: prosperous Baden-Württemberg in the southwest, neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate, and relatively poor Saxony-Anhalt in the east. Other parties are not expected to share power with it, but its performance could complicate efforts to form state governments - particularly in Saxony-Anhalt, where polls give it up to 19 percent support.

Germany registered nearly 1.1 million people as asylum-seekers last year as Merkel insisted "we will manage" the challenge, a stance lauded by many but that drove others into AfD's arms.

"What she did was issue a political invitation to a great many people in the world to set off for Europe, with catastrophic consequences for the structure of a Europe of freedom," AfD leader Frauke Petry recently told foreign reporters.

Merkel is doggedly pursuing an elusive pan-European solution to the migrant crisis, even as other countries shut borders and German conservative allies demand national measures such as refugee quotas. Asked recently what would make her change course, she replied: "I cannot see anything that could bring that about, because it is all well thought-through and logical."

But Petry, whose party already has lawmakers in five German state parliaments and at the European Parliament,...