AfD looks to federal elections after sweeping Saxony-Anhalt victory

BERLIN (MNTV) – Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party is turning its attention to the next federal elections after scoring a commanding victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said Monday that the party now intended to build on the result and establish itself as Germany’s dominant political force.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Weidel predicted that the AfD would emerge as the strongest party in the next federal election and secure what she described as a clear mandate to govern.

She also claimed that the Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, would no longer be able to win a federal election.

“The CDU/CSU will never again be able to win a federal election. That’s a fact,” Weidel said.

She said the AfD was already leading the conservative alliance by about 10 percentage points and set a goal of expanding its support to at least 40% by the next federal vote.

Weidel says voters want political change

Weidel portrayed the Saxony-Anhalt result as evidence of growing dissatisfaction with Germany’s political establishment.

She sharply criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz, calling him deeply unpopular and accusing his government of failing to address major economic and social concerns.

“The people in this country no longer want business as usual,” she said.

Weidel cited immigration, deportation policy, energy costs, crime, industrial decline, taxation and problems in the education system among the issues she said were driving voters toward the AfD.

Rise alarms Muslims, immigrants and rights groups

The AfD’s growing electoral strength has also intensified concerns among Muslim communities, immigrant groups and human rights advocates over the party’s positions on Islam, migration and citizenship.

Human Rights Watch has warned of a broader rise in racist, anti-migrant and anti-Muslim hostility in Germany as the far right has gained political ground. The group reported that civil society organizations documented 3,080 anti-Muslim incidents in 2024, a 60% increase over the previous year, while German authorities recorded 1,848 offenses classified as anti-Islamic.

Concerns have also focused specifically on AfD policies and rhetoric toward Muslims and people with immigrant backgrounds.

A 2026 legal assessment by the German civil liberties organization Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte concluded that AfD policies systematically discriminate against Muslims and people with migration backgrounds. It cited proposals including restrictions on Islamic headscarves in public institutions, bans targeting minarets and calls for sweeping deportation measures.

Rights advocates argue that such policies could undermine religious freedom and equal citizenship, particularly for Germany’s Muslim population and residents with immigrant backgrounds.

The AfD rejects accusations that it is racist or hostile to democracy and portrays its policies as measures to defend German sovereignty, public security and national identity.

The party’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt has nevertheless raised the prospect of the AfD gaining executive power at the state level for the first time, further unsettling minority communities and organizations that have warned about the normalization of far-right politics.

Weidel described the Saxony-Anhalt result as a “dream result” and said the party had benefited from high turnout, support from people who had previously stayed home and defections from rival parties.

The AfD won 43.8% of the vote in Sunday’s election, more than doubling its 2021 share and securing 39 of 83 seats in the state parliament. The CDU finished a distant second with 17.2%. The AfD fell short of an outright majority, leaving its ability to form a government dependent on securing support from other lawmakers.