German far-right leader Andreas Kalbitz is poised to triumph in state elections despite controversy over extremist past attending a neo-Nazi youth event and being member of group which downplayed the Holocaust

A leading member of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party is set to triumph in state elections despite alarm over his extremist past.

Andreas Kalbitz, 46, who leads the party in the eastern state of Brandenburg, said on Tuesday that 'one could accuse me of right-wing extremist connections, but certainly not of having far-right extremist biography.'

With some polls showing Alternative for Germany coming first in next month's state elections in Brandenburg, Kalbitz has faced scrutiny over his past views.

Gideon Botsch, a political scientist at the University of Potsdam, said Kalbitz was 'very clearly rooted in the right-wing extremist scene' from a young age.