The result in Sachsen-Anhalt is historic. The last ARD projection I saw put the AfD at 44.0%, CDU 17.5%, SPD 9.2%, Greens 8.9%, Linke 8.6% and BSW 5.1%. The AfD has more than doubled its 2021 result, while the CDU has roughly halved its support. The AfD remains short of an absolute majority, so governing is another question.
Its programme calls for “remigration”, more deportations, compulsory work for asylum seekers, tighter benefits, stronger policing and citizen patrols. It wants more selection and discipline in schools, less inclusion, separate classes for some refugee children, and greater emphasis on traditional German culture.
The AfD also proposes defunding equality, integration, gender and some democracy programmes, and rolling back wind power while preserving coal and reviving nuclear energy. It combines cultural nationalism with economic populism, promising family benefits and free school meals despite an estimated annual financing gap of at least €2.2 billion.
On Europe, it wants a “Europe of nations”, rejects further transfers of sovereignty and debt mutualisation, and says Germany should be prepared to leave the Euro. Some currents openly question EU membership.
On Ukraine, it rejects sustained German support, opposes sending long-range weapons and calls for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations, rewarding Russian aggression and weakening Kyiv. It wants sanctions against Russia ended, economic relations restored and a pragmatic partnership revived, while often blaming Washington, Brussels or Berlin for the confrontation. It also wants Ukraine permanently out of the EU and out on NATO.
Continued growth of the AfD would risk conflict with the Bundesbank, German industry, financial markets, European partners and the legal foundations of the European Union.
Why did almost half the electorate in Sachsen-Anhalt vote for it? Migration, crime, schools, economic stagnation and rejection of the federal government all played a role, shaped by eastern Germany’s history.
Reunification brought freedom and material improvement, but also industrial collapse, unemployment, westward migration, demographic decline and the replacement of eastern elites by western ones. Many feel ignored, abandoned and looked down upon. Eastern Germans remain underrepresented in senior institutions; in Sachsen-Anhalt, 73% said in 2024 that they are still treated as “second-class citizens”, while only 16% in a 2026 poll had strong confidence in the state’s basic functions. The AfD has capitalized on concerns about migration, energy, insecurity, Berlin politics and decisions made elsewhere.
As a state government, the AfD could redirect school curricula and funding, change administrative priorities, strengthen police and deportation infrastructure, withdraw discretionary funding from NGOs and cultural projects, and begin leaving broadcasting treaties. But it cannot rewrite Federal asylum or citizenship law, dictate foreign policy, abolish constitutional rights, overturn EU law or dismiss career civil servants. Foreign policy, defence, sanctions and monetary policy remain Federal or European matters. Still, the AfD will use its influence to slow down or disrupt Federal legislation. Almost all other political parties still reject cooperation.
It would be a mistake to treat 44% of the voters in Sachsen-Anhalt as stupid, racist or morally contaminated. The “Brandmauer” will not restore trust. Parties must credibly address migration control, public order, infrastructure, schools, rising energy costs and eastern representation, acknowledge failures and offer believable liberal democratic solutions. They must also explain clearly that undermining the Euro threatens prosperity, abandoning Ukraine emboldens Russia, ending sanctions increases dependence on Moscow, and weakening Europe damages Germany and its allies during very dangerous times. They must also force the AfD to confront arithmetic: which promises are constitutional, who pays the €2.2 billion, where will workers come from, and what would weaker European integration and abandoning Ukraine mean for German jobs, security and global influence?
At 44%, moral quarantine has largely exhausted itself. The answer is more competent government, universal rules and empirical scrutiny. It is not about more lectures on morality, but about acknowledging the problems, offering believable solutions and rebuilding trust.
AfD promises are pipe dreams. Reality may eventually collapse them, but not before they cause real damage.
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