BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was facing pressure Monday after the far-right Alternative Germany (AfD) party swept to a landslide victory in a regional election, possibly paving the way for the first right-wing populist state government since the Nazi era.
AfD, classified by Germany's domestic intelligence agency as an extremist group in some regions of the country, fell just short of a majority in Sunday's election in the eastern
state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Because of Germany's Nazi past, far-right movements have always come under strong scrutiny, with the other major parties maintaining a firewall against any form of cooperation. Unlike most countries in Europe, modern Germany hasn’t yet had a far-right or right-wing populist party leading a national, state or major-city government
Merz, who leads the center-right Christian Democrats, came to power vowing to weaken AfD, but was unable to deliver on his promise.
AfD's strong victory is a major distraction for Germany and Merz at a time when Europe faces several challenges, including Russia's continued aggression against Ukraine, a suspected sabotage campaign targeting NATO countries, and difficult dealings with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Far-right parties across Europe cheered the result.
Tricky coalition talks lie ahead, and the AfD candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, still aims to become the first far-right head of a state government.
“I am telling you today that we must reclaim our old, safe, beautiful Germany. We proved that yesterday, and therefore this is the path we will now take together,” Siegmund told reporters in Berlin on Monday.
The vote weakens the chancellor significantly and he will be partly held responsible for his party’s historic loss after it led the state for the past 24 years. Support for Merz’s CDU party fell by half, while AfD more than doubled its share of the vote. The result could also energize AfD in other state elections later this month.
Merz is expected to comment later on Monday after meetings of his party and government leaders.
AfD, known for its pro-Russian and radical anti-immigration stance, is the biggest opposition party in Germany’s national parliament and is strongest in the formerly communist and less prosperous east, where Saxony-Anhalt is located.
Leading a state government would be the biggest prize for AfD in its 13-year history, coming at a time of widespread discontent with a national government that has yet to persuade voters that it can get the country’s sluggish economy moving.
While Siegmund has rejected an AfD minority government, his party could possibly govern with the hard-left BSW party, which received 5.3% of the vote. The two parties share a Russia-friendly course and oppose immigration but do not agree on some other subjects.
On Monday, BSW's lead candidate in the election, Thomas Schulze, expressed his party's willingness again to help an AfD governor take office in the state parliament.
Forming a government that excludes the AfD would only be possible if all the other parties that were elected worked together — CDU, Social Democrats, the Greens, the Left Party, and the BSW. However, a coalition involving five partners would be extremely unusual, very complicated and prone to instability.
It's also possible that newly elected lawmakers from other parties could defect to AfD — it would only need three people to get a majority to govern.
“The task before us is a very clear mandate to form the government,” Siegmund said, adding that his party would reach out to all other new factions in parliament and even to individual lawmakers. “Our goal now is to build precisely this stable majority in the coming days and weeks.”
AfD previously won a state election but didn’t end up governing. That was two years ago in neighboring Thuringia, where a CDU governor took power with a minority government, but AfD was much further short of a majority there. So far, the country's mainstream parties have adhered to the so-called firewall, meaning they refused to work with AfD.
Billionaire Elon Musk congratulated the party on its election victory with a “Well done!” on his online platform X.
Siegmund immediately thanked him for his support, replying in English: “If we take on responsibility here, I would very much welcome the opportunity for strong and constructive cooperation. Germany would then once again be a place worth investing in. Best regards from Saxony-Anhalt!”
Trump posted a screenshot of the election projection on his “Truth Social” platform without any comment.
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev on X described the outcome of the election as a “historic win for the pragmatic AfD that will put migration under control.” In a separate post, Dmitriev said that “AfD will restore Germany and Europe by leading the commons-sense approach that migrant-friendly, warmongering Biden-think EU politicians tried to eradicate.”
The leaders of right-wing populist parties in Spain and Portugal also congratulated AfD, German news agency dpa reported.
The Polish prime minister was critical. “In Poland, only idiots or traitors could rejoice the AfD triumph in Germany,” Donald Tusk wrote on X.
And among voters who didn't back AfD, the reaction was one of deep dismay.
Horst Walter Boerner, 86, from Magdeburg, expressed shock. He was a child during World War II and the Nazi era.
“It’s terrible for us,” he said, saying the election was “fear-driven.”
AfD's victory was foreseeable because of the crowds it drew during the campaign, but he said “this should have never happened.”
AfD won 43.8% of the vote, more than double its showing five years ago in Saxony-Anhalt, west of Berlin.
That was far ahead of Merz’s party, which polled 17.2% — losing about half its support — and won 15 seats. The center-left Social Democrats polled 9.3%, the Greens 8.9% and the Left Party 8.6%, winning eight seats apiece.
The BSW party took 5.3% and five seats.
Turnout was very high at 77.8%. AfD appeared to have won over many people who didn’t vote at all five years ago.
Alice Weidel, one of AfD's two national leaders, praised the turnout and said the result was a signal for change.
“No chancellor before has been as unpopular as Friedrich Merz, who has become a major obstacle to Germany’s prosperous development,” she said.
“The people in this country no longer want business as usual when it comes to illegal immigration, open borders, skyrocketing crime rates among foreign nationals, refused deportations, and a disastrous energy policy.”
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Associated Press journalists Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland, and Kerstin Sopke in Magdeburg, Germany, contributed to this report.
