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| A session of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament in March 2026. (© picture alliance / DZBA / Jonas Lohrmann) |
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The eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt will elect a new state parliament on Sunday. Polls show that the the nationalist-populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) could secure an absolute majority. Among other things the party is promising a tougher stance on migration, a U-turn in energy policy and a patriotic cultural policy. Commentators ask what an AfD government would mean for Europe. |
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| Political order losing common basisThe strength of the AfD in Germany has repercussions for Europe as a whole, Helsingin Sanomat stresses: “The election in Saxony-Anhalt will represent a historic turning point in contemporary Europe, should a party classified as far-right come to power. ... The rise of the AfD has already prompted other parties to change course. Germany's old political order was based not only on the stability of the parties, but also on a shared understanding of what constitutes acceptable politics. This common understanding is now crumbling at a time when Europe is being called upon to take greater responsibility for its own defence, to support Ukraine and to contain Russia. Hence the AfD's strengthened position is not just a problem for Germany.”
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| Brace for an unpredictable Germany?With elections coming up in three federal states, political analyst Miguel Baumgartner looks ahead in Expresso to what would happen if the whole of Germany were governed by the AfD: “Germany is Europe's largest economy, the continent's industrial heartland and the country without which hardly any major European engagement is possible. A structural shift in German politics would transform European politics. Ukraine, Russia, immigration, climate, defence, relations with Washington, European integration. ... Europe was built on many treaties, but also on an unwritten premise: regardless of who governs in Berlin, Germany remains predictable. It is precisely this premise that will be put to the test from September onwards.”
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| Nato reaction could be delayedKlaus Bachmann, a German political scientist based in Warsaw, examines the implications for the military sector in Gazeta Wyborcza: “The German ministries, the Bundeswehr and the Federal Police are preparing to bypass these states [which could be governed by the AfD] in their plans for the transit of troops and equipment to the Baltic states or to Poland in the event of a crisis. ... Polish nationalists, right-wing conservatives and populists may continue to warn of impending German aggression and of German military transport vehicles on Polish roads, but their supporters should not be taken in: what poses a threat to Poland is not German aggression but the paralysis of the German state in the event of Russian aggression.”
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| The swelling tide of populismCorriere della Sera fears a knock-on effect in other European countries: “If, on Sunday, 'Germany's most dangerous man' (as Der Spiegel described Ulrich Siegmund, leader of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt) secures more than 40 percent of the vote and takes control of a German state government for the first time; if, next spring, Marine Le Pen secures victory in France's presidential elections – a victory that first her father and then she herself have been pursuing for 52 years; if Nigel Farage's xenophobic political force sweeps aside Europe's oldest two-party system in the UK – then the phenomenon known as 'populism' will be in charge of Europe's three major countries, having already conquered the White House.”
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| Universities under pressureAn election victory for the AfD could also have a negative impact on universities, The Economist explains: “The AfD detests Germany's universities in their current form. Mr Tillschneider [deputy leader of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt] has called academic humanities the 'legitimising whores' of social change. The party wants to restructure university governance, to withdraw from European standards for granting degrees and to establish a chair of demographic studies and an institute for 'critical Islamic studies'. It will struggle to achieve much of this: academic freedom is constitutionally protected. But since universities are largely funded by the states, an aggressive government could apply financial thumbscrews.”
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The Icelanders have voted by a narrow majority against joining the EU. On Saturday, 52.8 percent rejected the resumption of accession negotiations in a referendum. The Social Democratic government initiated the vote in the hope that EU membership would offer the country better protection against territorial claims such as those made by Trump regarding Greenland. For opponents, national sovereignty and control over fishing waters took precedent. |
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| EU needs better PRThe EU shouldn't take the 'no' vote too personally, says the taz: “Iceland is a country that values its independence and, as a member of the EEA, already benefits from the advantages of the bloc. The decision there was made from a position of ease. Now everything will remain as pleasant as it already is. But there is one thing Brussels really could do: take this referendum as a cue to seriously review its own PR strategy. The fact that it still seems to be so easy to persuade people time and again to fundamentally and vehemently reject the EU by spreading lies about it is, after all, unacceptable.”
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| Brussels must changeThe EU must become more citizen-oriented, argues Antoine Spillmann, co-founder of the association SwissRespect, in Le Temps: “Europe should not seek to regulate everything from Brussels. ... We need a Europe based on cooperation rather than centralisation. On accountability rather than bureaucracy. On closeness rather than distance. The UK decided to leave. Iceland has just refused to move one step closer. Switzerland has never agreed to become a member of this system. Perhaps we are not as isolated as some would have us believe. Perhaps we have understood something important: if Brussels wants to save the European project, it must not demand that the people change – Brussels must change.”
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