AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt state election in historic result, falls short of majority
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won the Saxony-Anhalt state election on 6 September with 43.8% of the vote — roughly double its 2021 share and the strongest result the party has ever recorded in a German state vote. AfD took 39 of the 83 Landtag seats, three short of the 42 needed for an absolute majority. A potential AfD–BSW alliance would hold 44 seats, raising the prospect of the first state government led by an AfD politician.
Key points
- Election held on 6 September; AfD won with 43.8% of the vote (preliminary official results).
- AfD took 39 of 83 seats in the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag; 42 are needed for a majority.
- AfD's share roughly doubled from 20.8% in 2021 — its best state result to date.
- CDU fell from 40 to 15 seats (17.2%); SPD 8 seats (9.3%); Greens 8 seats (8.9%); Die Linke 8 seats (8.6%); BSW cleared the 5% threshold with 5.3% and won 5 seats.
- AfD and BSW together would hold 44 seats, a theoretical narrow majority.
- BSW stated it would not support a government led by either AfD's Ulrich Siegmund or CDU's Sven Schulze.
- Elon Musk, Viktor Orbán and Matteo Salvini publicly congratulated AfD on the result.
- AfD's platform calls for lifting sanctions on Russia, ending military aid to Ukraine, and rejecting Ukrainian EU and NATO accession.
- Voter turnout was 77.8% — the highest figure since 1990.
Why it matters
The result is the strongest AfD performance in any German state election in the party's history and roughly doubles its 2021 share in Saxony-Anhalt. Although AfD fell three seats short of an absolute majority, an AfD–BSW combination would hold 44 of 83 seats — a narrow workable majority — opening the prospect of the first state government in Germany led by an AfD politician. Because AfD's platform calls for lifting sanctions on Russia, ending military aid to Ukraine, and rejecting Ukrainian EU and NATO accession, the outcome is being closely tracked outside Germany as a signal of far-right momentum in Europe's largest economy. Public congratulations from Elon Musk, Viktor Orbán and Matteo Salvini underline how the Saxony-Anhalt vote is being read internationally as part of a wider European far-right current.
What happened
Voters went to the polls in Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September. Preliminary official results published around 3 a.m. on 7 September confirmed a victory for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 43.8% of the vote — down slightly from an earlier evening forecast of 44.5%. AfD's 39 seats are three short of the 42 needed for an absolute majority in the 83-seat Landtag. The CDU, led in the state by incumbent Minister-President Sven Schulze, fell from 40 seats to 15 (17.2%). The SPD won 8 seats (9.3%), the Greens 8 (8.9%), Die Linke 8 (8.6%, down from 12 in 2021), and the BSW (Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht) cleared the 5% threshold with 5.3% to take 5 seats. Voter turnout was 77.8%, the highest figure since the first post-reunification state elections in 1990. AfD's lead candidate for Minister-President is 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund. Theoretically, AfD and BSW together would hold 44 seats, a narrow majority, but BSW has said it will not back a government led by either Siegmund or Schulze, although its state list leader Thomas Schulze has also said BSW is willing to negotiate with all parties including AfD. A CDU–SPD–Greens coalition would have only 31 seats; adding Die Linke would still leave it at 39, short of the 42 needed. Spiegel updated its coalition scenarios after preliminary results to include a possible AfD-led state government supported by BSW. The CDU's federal leader is Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All of the supplied sources are Ukrainian-language media, and they consistently frame AfD as 'ultraright' and pro-Russian, foregrounding the party's pledges to stop military aid to Ukraine, lift sanctions on Russia, and reject Ukrainian EU and NATO accession. Headlines and ledes link the Saxony-Anhalt result to its consequences for Ukraine rather than to Saxony-Anhalt domestic politics. Coverage highlights AfD co-chair Alice Weidel's pledge to end 'any aid to Ukraine — no taxpayer money, no weapons, no German soldiers' and the party's January 2026 demand that Ukraine repay aid and compensate for Nord Stream damage. Ukrainian reporting also flags AfD foreign-policy lead Markus Frohnmaier's 2026 meetings in Moscow with Russian officials and Gazprom representatives on resuming Nord Stream, AfD's June 2024 call to boycott President Volodymyr Zelensky's Bundestag address, and Ukrainian outlet Television Toronto's investigation linking some AfD deputies to the 5th Service of the Russian FSB and to a pro-Russian media network associated with former Ukrainian MP Viktor Medvedchuk. International reactions featured in the Ukrainian coverage — Elon Musk's 'Good result' comment, Viktor Orbán's 'unforgettable night' and Matteo Salvini's 'triumphant victory' congratulations, plus the Donald Tusk versus Polish right-wing exchange — are presented as evidence of a broader European far-right momentum that includes figures friendly to Moscow.
How international sources describe it
International coverage of the Saxony-Anhalt result, as reflected in the supplied Ukrainian reporting, has framed AfD's win primarily through the lens of its Russia and Ukraine policy positions, with congratulatory messages from Elon Musk, Viktor Orbán and Matteo Salvini treated as signs of transnational far-right coordination. The Polish exchange — Prime Minister Donald Tusk's criticism of Polish political opponents in Konfederacja and PiS who celebrated the result, and Konrad Berkowicz's counter-attack accusing Tusk of receiving German funding — is presented as a domestic Polish flashpoint set off by the German vote. The synthesis does not record a separate, distinct international framing beyond this Russia/Ukraine and European far-right reading.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on AfD's exact vote share: preliminary official results and most reports give 43.8%, Reuters and the Guardian reported 44%, and an earlier evening forecast put the figure at 44.5%. One Ukrainian-language source (article 6878) also gives 44%.
Background
AfD was founded in February 2013 as an association of economists and conservatives opposing the euro and bailouts for Southern European countries during the eurozone debt crisis. The party entered the Bundestag for the first time in 2017 — the first far-right Bundestag presence since World War II — and has since built a base in eastern German states. Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified AfD as a 'confirmed right-wing extremist' organisation in 2025; AfD challenged the ruling, and in February 2026 a court temporarily barred use of that designation pending judicial review. The Saxony-Anhalt Landtag has 83 seats, with 42 required for a majority. Friedrich Merz leads the federal CDU as Chancellor; Sven Schulze is the incumbent Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt and the CDU's lead candidate in the state. A state government, even one led by AfD, cannot directly determine Germany's foreign policy, which is set at the federal level.