APTOPIX Germany Election
Top candidate Ulrich Siegmund shows thumbs up beside party leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, from left, at an election party of the "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) after the Saxony-Anhalt state elections in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026.
As featured on
The far-right Alternative for Germany party has surged to a resounding victory in a regional election. But it fell a little short of winning a majority Sunday in its quest to form the country’s first far-right state government since World War II. The party of Germany’s unpopular leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, slumped to a disastrous result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The anti-migration and Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany’s candidate for governor said, “We have written history” and the party has a clear mandate to govern.
