The AfD’s landslide in Saxony-Anhalt sent shockwaves from Warsaw to Paris, dividing Europe between alarm and jubilation.
In May 1932, the Free State of Anhalt elected Germany’s first NSDAP-majority government. On the evening of 6 September 2026, Alternative für Deutschland swept to a landslide victory in the same area, now the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Many in Europe welcomed it.
The result reverberated far beyond the smallish state’s borders. Rarely has a regional election in Europe been watched with such intensity, and greeted with such starkly opposed reactions. The AfD’s lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, set the tone immediately. “This is a historic evening,” he told supporters, adding that the result was a signal to Berlin.
“A historic evening”
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel echoed him. The party, she said, had been given a “mandate to govern”. Economist Marcel Fratzscher offered a cooler reading. The result was, he told Reuters, “above all, a vote of no confidence in the federal government”.
The AfD appeared to fall just short of an outright majority, according to near-final results. Rival parties have vowed not to form a coalition with it. The AfD is designated a “suspected” extremist group by German intelligence, partly because its leaders have used Nazi slogans and minimised the Holocaust. Yet the scale of its victory—more than twice the vote share of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU—made those procedural guardrails feel thin.
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Within Germany, the response from mainstream parties was a mixture of shock and defiance. CDU/CSU Bundestag group leader Jens Spahn called it “a turning point for our country”. Saxony-Anhalt CDU leader Sven Schulze acknowledged defeat and congratulated the AfD, framing the result as “democracy”. CDU general secretary Franziska Hoppermann was blunter. Her party, she said, does not work with “extremes” or “right-wing extremists”.
Brandenburg SPD general secretary Kurt Fischer said it was “a bad result for democracy in Germany”. Brandenburg Left Party chair Katharina Slanina agreed: the result, she said, was not a success for any democratic party in the country. The Greens’ co-chair Felix Banaszak called the situation dramatic and stressed the need to preserve democracy.
A threat to Merz?
The result could also hobble Mr Merz personally. Rising prices and high unemployment helped win the AfD more than twice the votes of his party. Political analysts now talk openly of his ouster, a scenario once considered too far-fetched to even contemplate.
Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at Eurasia Group who previously worked for the EU’s civil service, put it plainly. “A weak Germany, with a chancellor who is coming unstuck and being forced to deal with domestic problems, is bad and will ultimately subtract from Europe’s ability to confront its challenges,” he told the New York Times.
Developed Europe is going through a version of sophisticated state failure. — Mujtaba Rahman, Eurasia Group
Regular Saxony-Anhalt citizens’ response was mixed. Juliane Jüttner, a sculptor and restaurant owner in Quedlinburg, a historic town of around 22,000, described the result as ‘Riesenscheiße’, a coarse term for a thoroughly unpleasant situation. “We have no idea how much they can do of what they said they would do,” she told EU Perspectives about the prospect of any AfD-led government.
Across Europe, the hard right greeted the result with undisguised delight. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (himself swept from power in April 2026 after 16 years, a casualty of perceptions of corruption and economic mismanagement) congratulated Alice Weidel, Ulrich Siegmund, and the “entire AfD” on what he called a “landslide victory”. He also called it “a huge night for Germany and Europe”.
Jubilation and fear
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was equally effusive. “Another Europe is possible,” he said, welcoming the result. Spain’s Vox leader Santiago Abascal congratulated both Ms Weidel and Mr Siegmund, calling the victory “great hope for Germany and Europe”. Portugal’s Chega leader André Ventura called it a “historic victory”, linking it to public anger over immigration and identity.
Only idiots or traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD. — Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister
From further afield, the signals were just as striking. Elon Musk congratulated the AfD on X with two words: “Gut gemacht!”, or “Well done!”. US President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the result on Truth Social without comment. Russia’s Kirill Dmitriev described Mr Siegmund as the “voice of reason”.
The centrist response, in Europe and beyond, was sharper still. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk did not mince words. “Only idiots or traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD,” he said, naming members of Konfederacja and PiS. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski called it “a very worrying sign”, even though the AfD had missed an absolute majority.
Alarm in Paris
France’s European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad called it “a very grave moment for Europe” and added: “Nationalism and xenophobia will never be the answer.” A French ministerial colleague warned that the AfD victory sent a “very, very worrying signal” to Europe and spoke of “a major challenge” from the populist wave.
The concern in Paris is acute. President Emmanuel Macron steps down next spring, and Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s National Rally, holds a commanding lead in first-round polls.
Philippe Marlière, a professor of French and European politics at University College London, captured the mood. “In both countries, the antifascist front that had prevailed since the end of the Second World War seems on the verge of collapse,” he told the New York Times.
The antifascist front that had prevailed since the end of the Second World War seems on the verge of collapse. — Philippe Marlière, University College London
DW reported that international commentary described the result as a “clear signal” for establishment parties and, in some outlets, a warning about Europe’s political direction. Reuters noted that far-right leaders across Europe cheered the result as a mandate for change. The divide between those who see the far right as democracy’s enemy and those who see it as democracy’s instrument has rarely looked so wide.
A harbinger for Europe
With elections due in France, Spain, and Italy over the coming year, the AfD’s success may prove a template as much as a warning. “Developed Europe is going through a version of sophisticated state failure,” Mr Rahman told the New York Times. “Governments are unable to address cost-of-living concerns. They are not able to deliver for their voters.”
Gut gemacht! — Elon Musk, US entrepreneur
Whether the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt victory translates into actual governing power remains uncertain. The cordon sanitaire, the mainstream refusal to govern alongside the far right, still holds, for now. But in the space of a single evening in eastern Germany, it looked considerably more fragile than it did the day before.
