Far-right victory in German state expected to send shockwaves throughout the world

Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured historic win in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday Jessica Singer · CBC News · Posted: Sep 07, 2026 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago Play article Estimated 8 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party co-leaders Tino Chrupalla, left, and Alice Weidel, right, and top candidate Ulrich Siegmund, centre, attend a news conference Monday, a day after the Saxony-Anhalt state elections in Berlin. (Liesa Johannssen/Reuters) Voters in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt have overwhelmingly chosen the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to run their government. It's a historic victory for a once-fringe populist party that's designated as right-wing extremist , including in Saxony-Anhalt, and whose members have come under fire for using Nazi slogans. It could become the country’s first far-right state government since the Second World War. The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt promises to improve relations with Russia, ban Pride flags in schools and create separate classrooms for refugee children. It calls for "remigration," a term often used in far-right circles to refer to mass deportations of people who come from a migration background. "No one who is honest, and no one who is accepting our laws and no one who is not illegal in Germany has to be scared because of our party," said AfD Saxony-Anhalt chairman Martin Reichardt. Elon Musk, Trump react to election results AfD politicians in Saxony-Anhalt have praised U. President Donald Trump as a source of inspiration, even using the catchphrase "Make Saxony-Anhalt Great Again" on the campaign trail, an echo of Trump's MAGA movement. Some in the United States are already responding to Sunday's win with their congratulations.  Elon Musk wrote "Gut gemacht!" (which translates to "well done") in response to Weidel's post on X congratulating Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD candidate to lead Saxony-Anhalt, on his win. Musk previously endorsed the party at a rally in Saxony-Anhalt in 2025.  Trump also posted a screenshot of the preliminary election results to his Truth Social page on Sunday evening.  Gut gemacht! — elonmusk Siegmund said Germany's success hinges on having more “sensible diplomacy” with other countries such as the U. S. and Russia. "Momentum is still on the side of the right-wing populists," said Oliver Schmidtke, former director of the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria in B. C. "I think right-wing populists around the western world, they see it as a sign that the frustration with old parties is very profound." Federal AfD co-leader Alice Weidel in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday. (Mona Schulze/CBC) The win is also an unprecedented blow to the established political system in Germany, according to Marcus Böick, a University of Cambridge professor who studies modern German history.  Voters in rural areas, of which there are many in Saxony-Anhalt, feel neglected by so-called elites in Berlin, he said.