The AfD’s victory in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt signals the return of the far right to power in key regions of Germany, bringing an end to the social contract that had been established in the country after World War II.
Moreover, the far right’s victory in a region of eastern Germany that was once under communist influence demonstrates a 360-degree shift in the ideological makeup of its citizens.
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By adopting a hard line on immigration and refugee issues and launching attacks on Friedrich Merz’s ruling party, the “Alternative for Germany” is beginning to gain ground in German society.
The initial results of the election in Saxony-Anhalt are indicative. According to ARD’s projection based on data from Infratest Dimap, the AfD is projected to receive 44.5% of the vote, according to Die Welt.
Thus, the AfD has doubled its result from the last election (20.8% in 2021). It is also the best result the party has ever achieved in a state election. Its previous best result was 32.8% in Thuringia in 2024.
“We need fundamental political change”
In his first remarks during an interview with MDR following the announcement of the initial results, the AfD’s lead candidate, Sigmund, commented:
“We have made history in this country. Things cannot continue this way. We need a fundamental political change in this country,” he said, referring to a political development that marks the return of the far right to power in a key region.
Zigmund is expected to become the country’s first far-right state premier since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.
The Tainted Past of Sigmund’s Close Associates
As Politico points out, the AfD has been designated a right-wing extremist organization by the Saxony state intelligence service. At the same time, members of Sigmund’s inner circle were part of an organization modeled after the Hitler Youth.
As revealed in a Politico report, four individuals behind Zygmunt are members of his inner circle. Two of them are among his closest advisors, and two of them helped draft the party’s campaign platform.
All four were members of the Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend, or HDJ, a group modeled in part on the Hitler Youth and banned by the German government in 2009, according to an investigation by WELT. The ban order stated that the group’s goal was to train a “neo-Nazi elite” steeped in National Socialist ideology.
In fact, even the AfD’s bylaws list the HDJ among the organizations whose former members are prohibited from joining the party. This ban was effectively broken in the case of Saxony. The group considered itself to be carrying on “the tradition of the Hitler Youth.”
Source: CNN.gr
