Far-right AfD scores historic win in German state vote

SAXONY-ANHALT

People react to exit polls during the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) election party following Saxony-Anhalt state election, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sept. 6 2026. . EPA/FILIP SINGER

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won the Sept. 6 election in Saxony-Anhalt by a wide margin but fell short of an outright majority, leaving its bid to form its first state government unresolved.

The AfD took 43.8 percent of the vote, more than doubling its share from 2021. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) fell to 17.2 percent from 37.1 percent, according to provisional results.

The AfD won 39 seats in the 83-member state parliament, three short of a majority.

Germany’s mainstream parties have long refused to govern with the AfD, a policy known as the political “firewall.”

An outright majority would have allowed the party to govern alone, but it will now need outside support to take office.

The result adds pressure on Merz, whose party also trails the AfD in national polls.

The far-right party sees Saxony-Anhalt as a step toward victory in the 2029 federal election.

Its lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, 35, is a former fragrance salesman who left the CDU and joined the AfD in 2014. He has built a large following on TikTok.

Siegmund campaigned on tougher deportation policies, promising a task force to remove migrants who do not work or integrate.

He also pledged to ban rainbow flags in schools and halt the construction of new wind farms.

His campaign appealed to discontent among eastern Germans who feel they are treated as second-class citizens.

EU affairs analyst Can Baydarol told Milliyet that the AfD’s rise was troubling for Turks in Germany but that he did not expect an immediate change in relations with Türkiye.

He argued that Germany’s concerns about Russia and its interest in closer defense cooperation with Türkiye would continue to shape bilateral ties.

“I do not expect much change in this area,” he said.

Hüsamettin İnaç, a professor at Kütahya Dumlupınar University, told Milliyet that economic insecurity and unresolved migration and integration problems were helping the far right gain support.

He said migrants often became targets when living standards and stability declined, warning that the trend posed particular risks to Germany’s Turkish community.