AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt vote but falls short of majority

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany won a sweeping victory in Saxony-Anhalt’s regional election Sunday, more than doubling its support and dealing a sharp blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives, but it fell short of the majority it sought to form the country’s first far-right state government since World War II.

Final results showed the anti-migration, Russia-friendly AfD winning 43.8% of the vote and 39 seats in the 83-member state parliament, three short of a majority. The Christian Democratic Union, Merz’s party, fell to 17.2% and 15 seats after leading Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years. The center-left Social Democrats took 9.3%, the Greens 8.9% and the Left Party 8.6%, each winning eight seats. The BSW party won 5.3% and five seats.

Turnout was 77.8%, and AfD appeared to have gained support from many people who did not vote five years ago. The party had won 20.8% in the 2021 regional election.

AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund, 35, told public broadcaster ARD that voters had sent a signal that “things cannot carry on like this.” He said, “We have written history,” and argued the party had a clear mandate to govern. He also said Merz had been “a very good campaigner for us in this election campaign.”

Speaking to supporters, Siegmund called the result “a signal for the whole of Germany — a self-confident signal,” NPR reported.

AfD had hoped to win an absolute majority and break through the “firewall” maintained by mainstream parties that refuse to work with it. Siegmund said the party would not engage in “games” such as a minority government. But it was not immediately clear how AfD’s opponents could assemble a stable government without it.

The result leaves incumbent governor Sven Schulze of the CDU facing difficult choices. Schulze congratulated AfD on becoming the state’s strongest political force and said, “we as the CDU will also have to deal with this result,” without saying how.

Franziska Hoppermann, the CDU’s national general secretary, rejected any retreat from the party’s refusal to cooperate with AfD. “AfD is a right-wing extremist party. It wants to leave the euro; that would be economic downfall… it works closely together with Russia, it wants a completely different social model,” she said. “We will not work with them.”

AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch is among several classified by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency as a proven right-wing extremist group. The agency has cited members’ denigration of migrants from Muslim countries, among other issues. AfD rejects accusations of extremism and says they are politically motivated.

AfD national co-leader Alice Weidel called the result “sensational” and said the party’s “hand is outstretched to all who want to make Saxony-Anhalt better and move Germany forward.” Speaking to ZDF, she said, “We are seeing explosive growth here,” and added that AfD expected further gains in eastern Germany and nationally, NPR reported.

Siegmund campaigned on what he called “a deportation offensive,” changes to migration and education policy, and steps to withdraw Saxony-Anhalt from the regional public broadcaster over what he has described as concerns about “disinformation.” AfD in the state wants to allow home schooling, ban schools from officially raising the rainbow flag and require the national flag. It also opposes public money going to Ukraine and wants sanctions on Russia lifted, though those decisions are not made by state governments.

International reactions reflected the election’s wider resonance, according to NPR. President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of projected results on Truth Social, and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the result a “historic win.” Elon Musk congratulated AfD, prompting Siegmund to thank him for his “support.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that “In Poland, only idiots or traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD in Germany,” while French Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad called the results a “grave moment in Europe.”