Alternative for Germany’s 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt—near a state majority, the closest a far-right party has come in Germany since World War II—is framed as a warning for Europe, driven by the collapse of mainstream parties and rejection of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU, with a similar lead projected in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The author says AfD and allied parties thrive on anti-immigration “remigration” (including targeting non-assimilated citizens and some Ukrainians), a term once toxic after the 2024 Potsdam leak that is now in AfD’s manifesto and echoed by Austria’s Freedom Party.

AfD’s anti-Muslim agenda—headscarf bans, no new mosques, “Germany for Germans”—is tied to a false “Muslim takeover” narrative (Muslims are about 6% of Europe). With 2027 votes in France, Italy, Spain, and Poland, the piece warns far-right parties are near power and mainstream parties need their own answers, not copies of the far right.

European politics has had yet another wake-up call. The startling success of Alternative for Germany in Saxony-Anhalt, where the far-right party this month received 43.8 percent of the vote and came within three seats of an outright majority, represents a harbinger of what is to come. This is the closest a far-right party has come to winning power in a German state since the Second World War.

The impact will be felt across the continent, representing a huge threat to immigrants, particularly Muslims.

Germany is the largest, richest and most powerful EU state. Understanding how Alternative for Germany has prospered matters.

Firstly, it is about the collapse of the mainstream........

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