In France, the reaction of Jean-Luc Mélenchon
For the leader France Insoumise (LFI), the victory of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt is the “demonstration of the blindness of centrist politicians”.
“This disaster is their result. Under these conditions, the German military project to create the first conventional army in Europe is unacceptable for France,” he added on X.
Will the left-wing populist party BSW be the arbiter?
The outcome of the vote could depend on the ability of the left-wing populist party BSW – a potential coalition partner for the AfD – to also cross the threshold necessary to have elected representatives, with polls placing it just above or just below this limit.
The BSW is the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – For Reason and Justice”, named after the former leader of Die Linke (radical left), Sahra Wagenknecht, who claims to be pro-Russian and denounces Islamism.
In Germany, first reactions to the AfD victory
The co-president of the AfD, Alice Weidelwelcomed a “historic” result capable of giving the party a clear mandate to govern.
The outgoing Minister-President, Sven Schulze (CDU), congratulated the AfD which is becoming, he recognized, the leading political force in the region.
Once again, the AfD achieves an electoral breakthrough in the former East Germany
Gauthier Rybinski, columnist for France 24, recalls that the German far right achieves its best scores in the Lander of the former East Germany.
In Magdeburg, the Democrats sound a warning siren
Caroline Du Bled, our correspondent in Germany, comments on the collapse of the CDU, the Christian Democratic party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, while pro-democracy activists sounded a warning siren in Magdeburg.
Record score for the far right
If the estimates are confirmed, this is by far the AfD’s biggest electoral success to date, whether or not the far-right group obtains an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU suffered a severe defeat, losing almost 20 points compared to the previous election. Unpopular, the chancellor could be challenged even within his conservative party and the coalition which supports him.
First statements from the AfD
“We need fundamental political change in this country, with politics that finally looks after our own interests, our own country again,” said Ulrich Siegmund, the leader of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, interviewed by the public broadcaster ARD after the announcement of the first estimates in the city of Magdeburg.
“We wrote history,” says far-right regional leader
With between 44 and 44.5%, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is well ahead of the conservatives (CDU) who would obtain 18.5%, according to polls carried out at the exit of the polling stations for the ARD and ZDF channels. If these scores are confirmed during the count, the radical right would obtain 39 seats in the regional parliament, while 42 are needed for an absolute majority.
The polling stations have closed in Saxony-Anhalt, here are the first estimates:
According to a ZDF estimate, the AfD obtained 44% of the votes.
A very large victory, higher than the polls carried out before the vote. According to the ARD, the far-right party would win with 44.5% of the vote and obtain 39 seats out of 83 in the state assembly.
Ulrich Siegmund, the smiling face of the German far right
Aged 35, Ulrich Siegmund is the leader of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt. Followed by more than 500,000 subscribers on Instagram, he frequently campaigns on Simson Schwalbe mopeda cult object in the former East Germany and a symbol ofOstalgie.
The AfD’s cultural “war”
Our journalist Sebastian Seibt painted the portrait of Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, the ideologue of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt who “wants above all to lead the fight for ‘culture’ (…). In its program, the far-right party in Saxony-Anhalt has established culture as its third priority, behind “family and children” and “immigration and remigration” and defends the idea that “German identity” must be restored thanks to a “patriotic cultural policy”. His portrait can be read in full here ⤵️
🎥 What to understand from the vote of the inhabitants of Saxony-Anhalt? “It’s a bit of a paradox”
“It’s a bit of a paradox, because it’s a population that fought for democracy at the end of the 1980s in a very courageous way (…) and, today, they vote by 40%, at least in Saxony-Anhalt, for an anti-democratic party with a neo-Nazi leader. I think that the AfD saw this as a favorable breeding ground by agitating for a revenge of the East Germans against all the collective injustices that they have suffered at the time of reunification.”
The decryption of Elisa Goudin-Steinmann, professor of Germanic studies at Paris Sorbonne University ⤵️
📸 In pictures: the vote of the candidates
Minister President of the State of Saxony-Anhalt and lead candidate of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Sven Schulze, votes in the Saxony-Anhalt regional elections in Magdeburg, Germany, September 6, 2026. © Reuters
Ulrich Siegmund, lead candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and his wife Julia Siegmund, cast their votes in the Saxony-Anhalt state elections at a polling station in Tangermünde, Germany, September 6, 2026. © Reuters
🎥 Regional elections in Germany: the AfD favorite, demonstrations for democracy the day before
“This vote is important for the inhabitants of the region. Obviously, for AfD voters who want to mark a new page in history. But also for the 16,000 people who were present on Saturday for the democracy festival and who mobilized to prevent the AfD from winning these elections.”
Explanations from our special correspondent, Caroline Du Bled in Magdeburg, Germany ⤵️
Participation increases at midday
Polls will close in just under two hours but as of midday, turnout stood at 34.72%. A figure significantly higher than that of the previous regional elections in 2021 (22.4%), announced the electoral commission.
Hello and welcome
In Saxony-Anhalt, in eastern Germany, voters go to the polls to elect their regional representatives. The far right is the clear favorite and could for the first time since 1945 be able to lead a state. France 24 is working to bring you live the first estimates and results of this election.
