AfD Wins Historic Elections in Two German States

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt, taking 43.8% of the vote and coming close to an outright majority as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats fell to 17.2%; the AfD also won in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania two weeks later. The results have intensified pressure on Germany’s political “firewall” against cooperation with the far right and raised questions about the weakening of postwar political norms. Historian Timothy Garton Ash says the AfD’s gains in eastern Germany are better understood through the upheaval of the post-communist transformation than through claims that residents lack experience with democracy. Across Europe, far-right parties are gaining influence, but they remain divided over Russia, the future of Europe, economic policy and minority rights, with disputes over the AfD’s treatment of Germany’s Nazi past illustrating those divisions.