Far Right AfD Wins Landslide Victory in Saxony Anhalt State Election
24 sources across 16 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state
Who reported this
- Der Spiegel
- Sueddeutsche Zeitung
- Deutsche Welle
- Frankfurter Allgemeine
- G1
- CNN Brasil
- Folha de S.Paulo
- The Guardian
- Financial Times
- Reuters
- Le Monde
- France 24
- Politico Europe
- La Tercera
- El Espectador
- Telex
- The Times of Israel
- ANSA
- NRC
- Al Jazeera
- The Korea Herald
- El Pais
- Taipei Times
- CNN
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
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The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a landslide victory in the state of Saxony Anhalt, securing approximately 44 percent of the vote. The party is now only three seats away from an absolute majority in the 83 seat parliament. This result marks the first time a far right party has come this close to leading a German state since World War II. Ulrich Siegmund, the 35 year old AfD lead candidate, claimed the result is a clear mandate to govern and has expressed openness to cooperation with other parties to form a government.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered a severe defeat, with the CDU score dropping to 17.2 percent from 37.1 percent in the previous election. Merz described the result as a catastrophe and the worst electoral defeat for the CDU in decades. The loss has led to speculation regarding Merz's future as chancellor and party leader. Within the CDU, state premier Sven Schulze announced he will not seek re election as state leader, while Sepp Muller has announced his candidacy for the position.
Mainstream parties have largely maintained a firewall against forming coalitions with the AfD. However, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a small leftist party, has emerged as a potential kingmaker. While BSW leadership stated they would not vote for Siegmund or Schulze, they have indicated a willingness to cooperate with the AfD on certain issues. The AfD's platform includes the deportation of immigrants, an end to support for Ukraine, and a rejection of modern architecture in favor of traditional German styles.
International reactions have been mixed. Some European leaders expressed concern that the result signals a broader trend of far right growth across the continent. In Italy, Vice Prime Minister Matteo Salvini celebrated the win, while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called it bad news. The AfD branch in Saxony Anhalt is classified as a right wing extremist group by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- These outlets emphasized the danger of the AfD's extremist labels and the social anxiety felt by migrants and minority groups.
- Centre
- These outlets focused on the systemic implications for European democracy and the strategic crisis facing the German chancellery.
- Centre-right
- These outlets highlighted the AfD's use of social media and the specific policy failures of the CDU that led to the conservative collapse.
Sources
- Centre ANSA: Elections in Saxony Anhalt, Merz shocked. 'Shaken to the foundations but I do not surrender'
- Centre-left Al Jazeera: What are the implications of AfD’s electoral rise for Germany and Europe?
- Centre-left CNN: What the AfD’s electoral victory means for Germany and Europe
- Centre CNN Brasil: The surprise is not so great, says Arko about AfD victory in German state
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt: This is how Ulrich Siegmund plans the government takeover
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: News: Friedrich Merz, Vladimir Putin supporters in Germany, Pisa study
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: CDU Saxony-Anhalt: Can Merz be overthrown via the power struggle from Magdeburg?
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Saxony-Anhalt: How AfD voters in Halberstadt view the election victory
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Sachsen-Anhalt election: This is how it went on "Hart aber fair" and "Markus Lanz"
- Centre Deutsche Welle: Chancellor Merz says AfD result 'changes all of Germany'
- Centre-left El Espectador: The electoral hangover left by AfD in Germany: what follows now?
- Centre-left El Pais: The far right is not knocking on the door, it is entering through Germany
- Centre-left El Pais: Why AfD is a far right party
- Centre Financial Times: The crisis for Merz and the CDU
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: Tiny and hard to label party is key piece for the far right in Germany
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: Far right victory in German state sends signal to Europe
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: What is missing for the AfD to form a government in Saxony Anhalt, Germany
- Centre France 24: In Saxony Anhalt, the AfD victory relies on a struggling economy
- Centre France 24: Victory of the AfD in Germany: a Russophile and pro-Trump party
- Centre France 24: AfD: is Germany tipping?
- Centre France 24: Germany: the AfD, from euroscepticism to extremism
- Centre France 24: Regional elections in Germany: leading a land, what does that mean?
- Centre France 24: AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt: the populist left the kingmaker of the far right?
- Centre France 24: A "wind of panic": with the victory of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, foreigners fear a turning point
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: F.A.Z. Podcast for Germany: Election Victory with Pitfalls: "The AfD Can Hardly Run from the Force"
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: After the Saxony-Anhalt election: Tremors and sensitivities
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: After the state election in Sachsen-Anhalt: Economy warns of standstill
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Saxony-Anhalt: This election is a turning point for the AfD as well
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Sachsen-Anhalt: No time for a stalemate
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Promise of the AfD: Turn faster with the AfD
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Reactions to AfD victory: "It is an unimaginable moment"
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Live blog on the election in Saxony-Anhalt: Sepp Müller wants to become CDU chairman in Saxony-Anhalt
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: TV criticism "Hart aber fair": Does the AfD even want to govern?
- Centre-left G1: German Chancellor says far-right victory in state election raises alert in Europe
- Centre-right La Tercera: Ulrich Siegmund, the man behind the AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt, bets on the help of the left-wing populists of BSW
- Centre-right La Tercera: 64% of Germans are "concerned" by the AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt
- Centre-left Le Monde: In Germany, the AfD's performance in Saxony-Anhalt weakens Friedrich Merz
- Centre NRC: After the election victory of the AfD, it now really matters for the center parties
- Centre NRC: For AfD in Saxony Anhalt, cooperation with left populist party beckons
- Centre Politico Europe: Merz has no good answers as the far right targets his downfall
- Centre Reuters: Small German leftist party emerges as potential far-right kingmaker - Reuters
- Centre-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung: After the state election: How could Ulrich Siegmund now come to power?
- Centre-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung: TV Criticism: "A perfect match"
- Centre-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung: Election in Sachsen-Anhalt: Power struggle in the CDU: Müller wants to become new state leader in Sachsen-Anhalt
- Centre-left Taipei Times: Germany’s far-right AfD triumphs, aims fire at chancellor
- Centre Telex: “It is certainly a turning point for the party and for Germany as well”; Merz's fate is being speculated upon after the AfD's landslide state victory
- Centre-left The Guardian: German chancellor vows to stay in office despite AfD triumph in state election
- Centre-left The Guardian: Friedrich Merz is now on borrowed time. But that’s not why the AfD’s triumph is seismic | Jörg Lau
- Centre-right The Korea Herald: [Jan-Werner Mueller] Far right’s war on modern architecture
- Centre-right The Korea Herald: Germany's Merz 'shocked' by far-right state win but vows to stay course
- Centre The Times of Israel: Far-right triumph in German regional election sends shockwaves through Europe
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.