Opinion | 80 Years After Holocaust, A Neo-Nazi-Linked Party Is On The Brink Of Power In Germany

Updated: Sep 15, 2026 16:06 pm IST Published On Sep 15, 2026 16:00 pm IST Last Updated On Sep 15, 2026 16:06 pm IST

Published On Sep 15, 2026 16:00 pm IST

Last Updated On Sep 15, 2026 16:06 pm IST

Three years after Germany's intelligence agency declared the Alternative for Germany (AfD) a "confirmed right-wing extremist" for its "numerous anti-Muslim, racist and antisemitic statements," voters in Saxony-Anhalt have elected the party by a landslide. The AfD won 43.8% of the vote, more than double its 2021 result, pushing Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling CDU to a distant second position and sending shockwaves across the country and beyond its borders. No party labelled as extreme right in Germany has secured such a big victory in a state election since 1945. The AfD terrifies many people because it reminds them of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. It includes people with neo-Nazi backgrounds; its leaders have downplayed the significance of the Holocaust, which killed six million Jews, and have portrayed minorities as second-class citizens.

Although the AfD is short of three seats to form a government, it could close the gap through possible defections from the CDU or by forming an alliance with the far-left BSW, which shares some of the AfD's policies. The BSW has won five seats and has said it would help the AfD form a government. That prospect, even in one of Germany's smallest states, would be a major turning point for the country. The fear is that members of the extremist party with neo-Nazi backgrounds might serve in top positions in the state, controlling the police, the domestic spy service (Verfassungsschutz), the judiciary, and education.

Even if the party fails to form a government in Saxony-Anhalt, its victory in the state is a major development, as it signals a defeat of Germany's post-war anti-Nazi and anti-fascist consensus. This was known as a firewall, under which mainstream parties would not work with extremist groups. Merz himself reiterated that policy in 2021.

The outcome in Saxony-Anhalt is a personal humiliation for Merz, who is now the most unpopular German chancellor since the founding of the Federal Republic. Five years ago, he declared that under his leadership of the CDU, he would cut the extremist party in half. The result has been the opposite. Ulrich Siegmund, the charismatic leader of the AfD, told reporters on Monday that his goal is to significantly widen the........

© NDTV