AfD's state poll win shakes German Chancellor Merz's party
Germany's far-right AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt state election, shaking Chancellor Merz's conservatives and testing the mainstream 'firewall' against far-right governance.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has conceded that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) winning a state election in Saxony-Anhalt has shaken his party to its foundations, even as he reiterated his refusal to cooperate with the group.
The AfD secured nearly 44% of the vote in the eastern state, winning 39 of 83 seats in the legislature. While this falls short of an absolute majority, it marks the first time a far-right party has emerged as the largest force in a German state parliament since the postwar era.
Merz, whose coalition government is deeply unpopular, told the Bild newspaper that the result demands a reckoning. "This shakes our party to its very foundations. We cannot simply carry on as before," he said, adding that the party system is undergoing a "tectonic shift."
The result has intensified pressure on Germany's mainstream parties to maintain their longstanding refusal to work with the AfD—a policy known as the "firewall." The AfD, which advocates for deporting immigrants, halting support for Ukraine, and restoring ties with Moscow, has called this exclusion undemocratic.
AfD national co-leader Tino Chrupalla appealed to conservative lawmakers to enable a "centre-right conservative majority" in the state, arguing that "partisan games ought to be a thing of the past." The party's state lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, said he would hold talks with various parliamentary groups.
The populist left-wing BSW party has signalled a willingness to work with the AfD, sharing its hostility to mass immigration and its opposition to sanctions on Russia. Both parties argue that cutting ties with Moscow has needlessly harmed Germany's export-driven economy.
The outcome has drawn alarm from abroad. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called it a "very, very worrying signal," while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the far-right threat was "gaining ground in Europe and in the world." Holocaust survivor Eva Umlauf expressed dismay, saying the result "frightens us."
AfD voters in Saxony-Anhalt were disproportionately male, less economically secure, and less educated. The party has been classified as right-wing extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence service in the state, a designation the AfD dismisses as scaremongering.