In the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, Sunday's election places a generation-defining question before a democracy still shaped by the memory of its darkest chapter: can a party classified by its own state intelligence as a far-right extremist organization translate a commanding polling lead into actual governing power? The AfD, born as a protest movement in 2013, now stands at 41 percent in a region where economic anxiety, migration fears, and a deadly 2024 attack have deepened its appeal — yet Germany's other parties have drawn a firm line against coalition, as they did in neighboring
Far-right AfD poised for historic German state power breakthrough
A December 2024 attack in Magdeburg by a vehicle driver killed five people, fueling migration debate that boosted AfD support despite the perpetrator being a legal resident critical of Islam.