Far-right surges in German state election

An electoral earthquake just hit Berlin, but will it hurt the wider economy?

Founded in 2013 as a euro-sceptic party, the AfD has moved sharply right on migration and national identity, turning anger over immigration, economic strain and mainstream politics into votes

Fears expressed for immigrants and for country’s future after AfD vote hits historic high in Saxony-Anhalt Maryam and her best friend were ambling through Magdeburg toward the railway station, talking over the dramatic events of the previous evening and the surge by the…

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz batted away suggestions that he might resign, saying he ​would broadly stick with his government's reform agenda.

The AfD's landslide win in Saxony-Anhalt has sent shockwaves through Berlin and beyond, with the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declaring, “we can't simply go on as before.”

Friedrich Merz said his conservative CDU was shaken ‘to its very foundations’ after far-right victory in Saxony-Anhalt A “shocked” and chastened Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay in office despite the far right’s triumph in a state election that has brought anti-immigrant,…

Leader of far right AfD Alice Weidel waves a German flag at the AfD party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, after the German national election. How do we define the far-right? It’s a phrase which has been long associated with those on the political fringes,…