The recent German elections have sent shockwaves across Europe, serving as both a wake-up call and a moment of reckoning for democratic forces. In December, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government lost the confidence of the Bundestag, it triggered not just a national crisis but a broader geopolitical concern. With Vladimir Putin’s Russia growing more assertive in its war against Ukraine and the United States under new leadership with a drastically different approach to transatlantic relations, Germany’s political turbulence was met with widespread unease.

By the time the election results were announced last Sunday, the fragile nature of Western unity had become even more apparent. The new US administration, led once again by Donald Trump, swiftly introduced tariffs on European goods, exacerbating economic uncertainty in an already struggling EU economy. The outcome of Germany’s election, therefore, carried weight far beyond its borders, influencing the balance of power within Europe and shaping its future relationship with Washington.

The election results are a paradox of relief and concern. On the one hand, despite the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gaining ground, it still lacks the numbers to seize control or force the mainstream parties into an uneasy alliance with it. On the other hand, the AfD’s continued rise in influence and vote share-receiving over 10 million votes, which accounts for just over 20%-raises serious alarms about the trajectory of German politics.

For a nation that still grapples with the shadows of its past, the growing presence of a party known for its ultranationalist, anti-immigrant rhetoric is deeply unsettling. The AfD’s normalization of radical narratives, particularly its targeting of Muslim migrants and open hostility toward the European Union, marks a........

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