Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has claimed a landmark victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, home to about 2.1 million people, though preliminary results show it narrowly missed the seats needed to govern alone. The party took 43.8% of the vote, more than double its 2021 showing, while the mainstream conservative CDU trailed far behind at 17.2%.
It would be the first time since World War II that a far-right party has won control of a German state, a role that carries authority over policing, education and cultural policy. Local AfD leader Ulrich Siegmund, 35, celebrated the results as “sensational,” even though German domestic intelligence classifies the state party as “right-wing extremist,” a label he rejects.
The AfD looks set to win 39 of 83 seats in the state parliament, just short of the 42 required for a majority. Siegmund has so far resisted leading a minority government, suggesting he’d rather force new elections than compromise. Attention now turns to the small left-wing populist party BSW, which also opposes mass migration and supports importing Russian gas, and hasn’t ruled out cooperating with the AfD.
The result reverberated internationally: former U.S. President Donald Trump shared the news approvingly on social media, while Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that only “idiots and traitors” would celebrate an AfD win. Germany’s political establishment, including the CDU and center-left SPD, called the outcome a historic turning point.
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Source: Germany's far-right AfD hails big victory in east, but falls short of majority (feeds.bbci.co.uk). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: StewieD, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).