Full story
AfD eyes power
Germany is holding a state election in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) aiming to secure a majority in the regional parliament and potentially mark the first time a far-right party has held state-level power in the nation's post-war era.
“the AfD is leading in opinion polls at 42 per cent”
The AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt is 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, and CBC reports the party is leading in opinion polls at 42 per cent, citing Infratest-Dimap’s survey of 1,511 eligible voters online and over the phone between Aug. 24 and 25.
In Magdeburg, CBC says the city of only about 244,000 people is at the center of an election that could leave a far-right party in control of a German state for the first time since World War II.
Siegmund’s campaign message is focused on migration and governance, and Euronews quotes him saying, "I finally want to make policy for our country."
Euronews also reports that Siegmund intends, in his first hundred days in office, to introduce "mandatory work for asylum seekers."
Firewalls and coalitions
Opponents of the AfD frame the election as a point of serious peril, while AfD supporters see it as a stepping stone toward nationwide power, and BBC says the result could also spell fresh trouble for Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Anadolu Ajansı reports that mainstream parties have said they will not cooperate with the AfD or enter a coalition with it after Sunday’s vote, regardless of the result, citing the domestic intelligence agency’s classification of the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch as a confirmed far-right extremist organization.
DW reports that on September 6, 2026, 1.7 million eligible voters in Saxony-Anhalt will decide whether the AfD can form a state government for the first time, and it notes the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD as such in 2023.
Euronews describes the AfD’s “family celebration” in Magdeburg, where the crowd chants "Wir sind das Volk" and "Wir sind die Wende," and it says the AfD is classified by Saxony-Anhalt’s Verfassungsschutz as a clearly right-wing extremist party.
Euronews also quotes a CDU politician warning that cooperation would end the Union, saying, "The moment we cooperate with this party and make it bear responsibility for governance, the CDU is finished."
What’s at stake
The election’s stakes extend beyond Saxony-Anhalt’s borders, with CBC saying supporters and opponents across Europe and beyond are watching closely to see if the AfD can turn a significant lead in opinion polls into real power.
“classified the AfD Saxony-Anhalt as a "confirmed far-right extremist" organization”
CBS News reports that since 2023, the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD Saxony-Anhalt as a "confirmed far-right extremist" organization, and it quotes the office describing the chapter’s core positions as "substantially permeated by the racist ideology of ethnopluralism."
CBS News also says Siegmund rejects the assessment and, in an August interview, accused the state intelligence agency of being politically weaponized against his party, quoting him: "It is being used as a political instrument."
DW adds that the AfD could gain control of state-level domestic intelligence services if it holds state power, and it frames this as raising concerns due to the party’s ties to Russia.
In the same election context, Euronews reports that Siegmund’s plans include reorganizing the migration file and calls for funds allocated to people in other places to be made available to those in Saxony-Anhalt who are in the country illegally and commit crimes there.