Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is projected to win the state election in Saxony-Anhalt with 44% of the vote, according to provisional results released on Sunday. The outcome marks the closest any far-right party in Germany has come to regional governance since World War II, significantly outpacing the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which secured less than 20% of the ballot.
Despite the commanding lead, the AfD faces a significant hurdle in forming a government. With 39 seats in the 83-member state legislature, the party falls three seats short of an absolute majority. Mainstream German political parties have maintained a strict “firewall” policy, refusing to enter into coalitions with the AfD.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, celebrated the result as a turning point for the nation. “We have made history in this country,” Siegmund said following the close of polls. “We’re taking our country back, it starts in Saxony-Anhalt. A jolt is going through all of Germany.”
The election, which saw a record voter turnout of 77% among the state’s 2.1 million residents, has drawn sharp reactions from both international allies and adversaries. U.S. President Donald Trump shared the projected results on Truth Social without comment, while Vice President J.D. Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who addressed the AfD’s campaign launch last year, have previously expressed support for the party. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev also praised the result, labeling it a victory for pragmatism over what he described as the failing policies of the Biden administration.
Conversely, European leaders voiced alarm. France’s Europe minister, Benjamin Haddad, described the outcome as a “grave moment in Europe,” while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated bluntly that only “idiots or traitors” would celebrate an AfD triumph in Germany. Herbert Kickl, leader of Austria’s right-wing Freedom Party, compared the shift to the collapse of communism, saying the “wind of freedom from 1989 is blowing through Germany once again.”
The AfD’s platform in Saxony-Anhalt includes stringent immigration controls, an end to aid for Ukraine, and significant cultural shifts. Controversial proposals include a policy referred to as “remigration,” which the party frames as prioritizing the deportation of criminals but is widely interpreted as mass deportation. The party has also called for segregating refugee children in schools, revoking war refugee status for Ukrainians, and banning rainbow flags in favor of daily national flag displays and anthems.
Additionally, the party has criticized the Bauhaus design movement as an “aberration of modernism” and advocated for revising history curricula to downplay the Third Reich. Critics, including Germany’s culture minister, have argued that such rhetoric echoes Nazi ideology. Other policy goals include establishing citizen patrols and imposing a moratorium on new wind farms.
Economic concerns have also been raised regarding the AfD’s agenda. The Halle Institute for Economic Research warned that anti-immigration policies could exacerbate Saxony-Anhalt’s labor shortage and cost the state billions in output. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has similarly argued that an AfD victory could deter foreign investment.
The party’s success is rooted in regional discontent and “Ostalgie,” or nostalgia for aspects of life in the former East Germany, where economic disparities with the west persist decades after reunification. Nationally, the AfD has doubled its vote share since 2025 and currently polls at 28%, making it Germany’s most popular party. In Saxony-Anhalt, 87% of voters expressed dissatisfaction with the federal government, according to an ARD poll.
While the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) entered the legislature with 5.3% and has rejected the firewall against the AfD, it stated it would not support either Siegmund or CDU’s Sven Schulze as state premier. Siegmund has ruled out leading a minority government dependent on external support, telling ZDF that if a coalition cannot be formed, “there’ll just be new elections,” predicting the party could then secure 50% or 55% of the vote.
Protests against the result have already emerged. Thousands gathered in Magdeburg on Saturday, with demonstrators carrying banners reading, “Life is better without Nazis.” Protester Laura Saalfeld told AFP that the political climate would likely change, with far-right sympathizers feeling more emboldened to show themselves openly.
Turnout was huge. People are clearly unhappy, even if their targets are wrong. Mainstream parties need to fix this before it gets worse.
Trump and Vance’s silence is loud. International support for such divisive policies only emboldens extremists further down the line.
Ulrich Siegmund said they made history, but is it the kind of history we want to remember? The ‘remigration’ plans are deeply troubling.
Can we talk about the labor shortage risks? Losing skilled workers due to hostile rhetoric sounds like economic suicide for the region.
This feels like a dangerous precedent. The firewall must hold, but the economic roots of this anger are real and urgent.