Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on course for a record result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, according to initial projections, placing it well ahead of mainstream rivals. It remains unclear whether the party can form a government, but the AfD says it has secured a mandate to govern. AfD Stands To Win 44% In Saxony-AnhaltProjections indicate the AfD could win 44% of the vote, exceeding its previous high by a wide margin and putting it far in front of the conservative CDU, which is projected to take 17.8%. The state has a population of around 2.1 million. The AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt leader, Ulrich Siegmund, said the result was “sensational” and indicated the party wanted to begin governing as soon as possible. He also rejected the domestic intelligence assessment describing the party in the state as “right-wing extremist”. No far-right party has controlled a German state since the Second World War. If the AfD were to take power, it would gain responsibilities including policing, local education and culture. Coalition Math Hinges On Smaller PartiesAfD leaders will not know whether they have enough seats to govern until it is clear which smaller parties enter the state parliament. Siegmund has so far declined to lead a minority government, but the party’s national leadership sees that as a possible route. A key uncertainty is whether the left-wing populist party BSW clears the 5% threshold needed for parliament. If BSW fails to enter, the AfD’s path to a majority would improve. If BSW does enter, the AfD is currently projected to have 39 seats in the 83-seat assembly. Other parties have said they would not form coalitions with the AfD, using a “firewall” aimed at keeping the far-right out of government. In Saxony-Anhalt, BSW has offered to cooperate with the AfD on certain issues if it wins seats. Supporters celebrated at the AfD election-night party headquarters as projections appeared on screens, with some later singing Germany’s national anthem. Siegmund told supporters the result was “a signal for the whole of Germany”. German And International Reactions Follow VoteOpposition parties and commentators described the outcome as a major break with the past. Main television channel Das Erste cancelled a planned episode of its long-running crime drama Tatort to focus on what the result could mean. Siegmund’s comments were echoed by political opponents and mainstream parties who said they would have to respond to the new balance of power. The CDU’s Sven Schulze conceded victory and said the party would have to deal with the result after an “extremely tough and intensive election campaign”. The Social Democrats (SPD), describing the result as “truly dramatic”, said it would serve as a warning nationally. Lars Klingbeil, leader of the SPD and a member of the federal government led by the CDU, said it was a “signal to Berlin” and that the government would hear it. International reactions also followed the projections. US President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the German TV result on Truth Social. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev shared a screengrab of Trump’s post and praised what he called a “historic win for the pragmatic AfD”. Dmitriev had previously described the AfD in positive terms, and during Germany’s federal election campaign last year US Vice-President JD Vance endorsed the party, a move criticised in Germany as political interference. Policies Draw Concerns Over Deportations And EducationAfD stands on an openly pro-Russia and anti-migration platform. Among its policies is “remigration”, widely understood as mass deportations of migrants, though the party says it means deporting criminals and people in the country illegally. The party says it would be limited by law if it is not able to control federal policy, but state-level powers could still affect implementation locally. The party has also targeted the Bauhaus school of design, arguing it was a “dead-end of modernism” and referencing the Nazi regime’s closure of the school in Dessau in 1933, a framing some critics say echoes Nazi rhetoric. Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor and veteran head of the Jewish community in Munich and Bavaria, said she was frightened by the outcome and called on mainstream parties not to “stand by and allow this decline”. Join the discussion? 7 September 2026
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