Germany's Far-Right Party AfD Just Secured A Major Election Win. Here's Why That Matters

It’s the first time a far-right party has controlled a German state since WW2.

Political Correspondent

Germany’s far-right party has just secured a clear victory in a regional election, sending a huge shockwave across Europe.

AfD (Alternative for Germany) fell short of an absolutely majority but, with 43.8% of the vote, it will now be the largest party in Saxony-Anhalt.

That means AfD is now the first far-right party to gain power in Germany at a state level since the Nazi era of World War 2.

Europe is stunned – and concerned about what comes next.

Here’s what you need to know.

The AfD is anti-immigration and anti-woke. It advocates the idea of “Germany for Germans” and vows to “make Germany great again”, replicating much of Donald Trump’s MAGA messaging.

The AfD is also pro-Kremlin and wants to stop supporting Ukraine, even pushing to stop Ukrainians from getting refugee status.

That matters because the German government is the largest single donor to Ukraine right now.

The party wants to half sanctions against Moscow and start buying cheaper Russian energy again, too.

These messages have significant appeal in eastern Germany, which is still significantly poorer than the west, 37 years after the fall of the Berlin wall.

But the AfD evidently has some appeal across the rest of Germany, too, as they are currently leading the nationwide parliament polls on 28%.

Concerns around the party have been prevalent for some time, with the German authorities have labelling some elements of the AfD anti-democratic.

A number of its regional factions, including the one in Saxony-Anhalt, have been labelled far-right........

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