Demonstrators hold banners during a protest after AfD’s victory, in Berlin.
The protests followed the AfD’s victory in Sunday’s election in Saxony-Anhalt, where it won nearly 44% of the vote and secured 39 of the 83 seats in the state legislature. Police estimated the crowd at about 5,000, while organisers said more than 14,000 people attended. Protests were also reported in Potsdam, Münster, Göttingen, Dresden, Aachen, Bamberg, Darmstadt and Halberstadt.
Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the memorial at the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, described the result as a “disgrace” and warned against accepting the prospect of an AfD-led government in silence. Merz ruled out cooperation with the AfD but acknowledged that the result had shaken his party “to its very foundations”. Germany’s long-standing political “firewall” against the AfD is also facing renewed scrutiny. French finance minister Roland Lescure described the AfD’s success as a “very, very worrying signal”, saying Europe was facing a broader populist challenge.
it is seeking support from lawmakers from other parties to form what would be the first far-right state government in postwar Germany While the party fell short of the majority needed to govern on its own. In Berlin, demonstrators gathered around the Brandenburg Gate for a pro-democracy rally opposing the AfD. The election has also put pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He rejected suggestions that he should resign, saying he would continue with his government’s reform programme. The country’s mainstream parties have traditionally refused to cooperate with the party, while the AfD has criticised the policy as undemocratic. The populist-left BSW, however, has signalled that it could work with the AfD, particularly on issues including migration and Germany’s policy towards Russia. Meanwhile, the result has drawn concern beyond Germany.