Why is the far-right AfD’s state victory significant and what might happen next in German politics?

Aftershocks of party’s win in Saxony-Anhalt will ripple across Germany, with two more state elections this month Germany is reeling from the biggest far-right victory in a state election since the Nazi period after voters in Saxony-Anhalt in the former communist east gave the anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party a thumping first-place finish of 44% , just short of an absolute majority. For the first time since the second world war, a German state is on the brink of electing a far-right government after a big win in Saxony-Anhalt, described by the news magazine Der Spiegel as a magnitude 9.0 “political earthquake”. Coming in nearly 27 points ahead of the co-ruling Christian Democrats (CDU), the conservative party of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the AfD pulled off a coup whose aftershocks will ripple across Germany and beyond its borders. The AfD will have broad powers over education, culture and domestic security if it manages to take power in the state. It is currently polling in first place at 28%.

Missing media or need the complete publisher report? Open The Guardian World ↗