It was bound to happen, they've been surging over the years. The Germans are tired of Middle Eastern migrants flooding the country and poor promises of deporting them by the current government.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a resounding victory in a regional election on Sunday but fell a little short of winning a majority in its quest to form the country's first far-right state government since the Second World War.
The party of Germany's unpopular leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, slumped to a disastrous result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The anti-immigration and Russia-friendly AfD's candidate for governor said, "We have written history" and that the party has a clear mandate to govern.
Ulrich Siegmund, 35, told public broadcaster ARD that voters had sent a signal that "things cannot carry on like this." He said that "a very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz."
For the first time since the Nazi era, a far-right German political party is eyeing victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. For The National, CBC’s Marina von Stackelberg goes there to find out how Alternative for Germany (AfD) went from fringe to frontrunner.
Final results showed AfD falling three seats short, with 39 lawmakers in an 83-member parliament. Siegmund said it wouldn't engage in "games" such as a minority government. But it wasn't evident how its divided opponents could assemble any stable government without it.
Blow to Chancellor Merz
A first state government would be the biggest prize in the anti-migration party's 13-year history, at a time of widespread discontent with a national government that has yet to persuade voters that it can get the country's sluggish economy moving.
Whether or not AfD ends up governing, the result is a blow to Merz, whose centre-right party has led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years.
Unlike other countries in Europe, modern Germany hasn't yet had a far-right or right-wing populist party leading a national, state or major-city government.
The AfD is already Germany's most popular party at the national level and is seeking to secure a foothold for advancing its agenda, which includes heavy restrictions on immigration, restoring ties with Russia, cutting support to Ukraine and quitting the euro.
A poll from the ARD broadcaster showed 87 per cent of the state's voters were unhappy with the federal government. Siegmund has described Merz as the AfD's best campaigner, given his unpopularity in the state.
"This election result is, above all, a vote of no confidence in the federal government," Marcel Fratzscher, the president of the German Institute for Economic Research, told Reuters.
Merz, who leads the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, has vowed to revive Europe's largest economy with business-friendly reforms and increased spending while warning that an AfD win in Saxony-Anhalt would damage the state and deter foreign companies from investing there.
Germany's mainstream parties have all refused to work with the AfD, which has been classified as right-wing extremist by the local office of Germany's domestic intelligence service.
One outlier is the small Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance party (BSW), which looked set to clear the threshold to enter parliament. The BSW has floated the idea of rule for Saxony-Anhalt by a non-partisan state premier relying on shifting majorities, including with votes from the AfD.
Siegmund, however, rejected the BSW's idea as a "mess" and ruled out any arrangements with other parties that would prevent the AfD from delivering on his promise of change. "If push comes to shove, there will simply be new elections," he said.
Merz's conservatives said they would explore talks with other parties, although that could require pulling together parties with vastly different policy agendas. In the neighbouring eastern German state of Thuringia, the conservatives run a minority government with passive tolerance from the Left party.
Although Saxony-Anhalt, formerly part of communist-run East Germany, is one of the smaller German states with a population of just over two million, the result underlines the rapid advance of the AfD since it was created in 2013.
The AfD is now Germany's most popular party nationally, polling at 28 per cent, according to a recent INSA poll — putting it comfortably ahead of the conservatives with 20 per cent.
Hard line on immigration
While hard-right parties have gained ground elsewhere in Europe, Germany's Nazi past has contributed to a reluctance among mainstream parties to co-operate with the AfD.
The AfD has dismissed accusations of extremism as scaremongering and an insult to the party's millions of supporters.
During the campaign, the AfD tapped into growing disillusionment with established parties, which it characterizes as tired and out of touch, offering instead a range of hardline policies and a nostalgic vision of a return to cleaner and safer streets and taking pride in being German.
"It is clear that we need change in Germany and in western Europe. And I believe a starting signal is definitely going out from here — whether you like it or not," said Antony Lee, an attendee at the AfD's election party. "I am a father, I am an entrepreneur, and I know that things cannot continue like this in Germany."
The AfD's program includes plans to push schools and cultural institutions toward what it views as more traditional values, while curbing immigration and overhauling public broadcasting. It wants the children of refugees to be taught in segregated classes.
It has called for rainbow flags in schools to be banned and for the German national flag to be hoisted every day. The national anthem would be sung by students and staff at school celebrations. Other proposals include citizen patrols, more teaching of Russian in schools and a halt to building new wind farms.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a resounding victory in a regional election on Sunday but fell a little short of winning a majority in its quest to form the country's first far-right state government since the Second World War.
The party of Germany's unpopular leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, slumped to a disastrous result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The anti-immigration and Russia-friendly AfD's candidate for governor said, "We have written history" and that the party has a clear mandate to govern.
Ulrich Siegmund, 35, told public broadcaster ARD that voters had sent a signal that "things cannot carry on like this." He said that "a very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz."
For the first time since the Nazi era, a far-right German political party is eyeing victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. For The National, CBC’s Marina von Stackelberg goes there to find out how Alternative for Germany (AfD) went from fringe to frontrunner.
Final results showed AfD falling three seats short, with 39 lawmakers in an 83-member parliament. Siegmund said it wouldn't engage in "games" such as a minority government. But it wasn't evident how its divided opponents could assemble any stable government without it.
Blow to Chancellor Merz
A first state government would be the biggest prize in the anti-migration party's 13-year history, at a time of widespread discontent with a national government that has yet to persuade voters that it can get the country's sluggish economy moving.
Whether or not AfD ends up governing, the result is a blow to Merz, whose centre-right party has led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years.
Unlike other countries in Europe, modern Germany hasn't yet had a far-right or right-wing populist party leading a national, state or major-city government.
The AfD is already Germany's most popular party at the national level and is seeking to secure a foothold for advancing its agenda, which includes heavy restrictions on immigration, restoring ties with Russia, cutting support to Ukraine and quitting the euro.
A poll from the ARD broadcaster showed 87 per cent of the state's voters were unhappy with the federal government. Siegmund has described Merz as the AfD's best campaigner, given his unpopularity in the state.
"This election result is, above all, a vote of no confidence in the federal government," Marcel Fratzscher, the president of the German Institute for Economic Research, told Reuters.
Merz, who leads the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, has vowed to revive Europe's largest economy with business-friendly reforms and increased spending while warning that an AfD win in Saxony-Anhalt would damage the state and deter foreign companies from investing there.
Germany's mainstream parties have all refused to work with the AfD, which has been classified as right-wing extremist by the local office of Germany's domestic intelligence service.
One outlier is the small Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance party (BSW), which looked set to clear the threshold to enter parliament. The BSW has floated the idea of rule for Saxony-Anhalt by a non-partisan state premier relying on shifting majorities, including with votes from the AfD.
Siegmund, however, rejected the BSW's idea as a "mess" and ruled out any arrangements with other parties that would prevent the AfD from delivering on his promise of change. "If push comes to shove, there will simply be new elections," he said.
Merz's conservatives said they would explore talks with other parties, although that could require pulling together parties with vastly different policy agendas. In the neighbouring eastern German state of Thuringia, the conservatives run a minority government with passive tolerance from the Left party.
Although Saxony-Anhalt, formerly part of communist-run East Germany, is one of the smaller German states with a population of just over two million, the result underlines the rapid advance of the AfD since it was created in 2013.
The AfD is now Germany's most popular party nationally, polling at 28 per cent, according to a recent INSA poll — putting it comfortably ahead of the conservatives with 20 per cent.
Hard line on immigration
While hard-right parties have gained ground elsewhere in Europe, Germany's Nazi past has contributed to a reluctance among mainstream parties to co-operate with the AfD.
The AfD has dismissed accusations of extremism as scaremongering and an insult to the party's millions of supporters.
During the campaign, the AfD tapped into growing disillusionment with established parties, which it characterizes as tired and out of touch, offering instead a range of hardline policies and a nostalgic vision of a return to cleaner and safer streets and taking pride in being German.
"It is clear that we need change in Germany and in western Europe. And I believe a starting signal is definitely going out from here — whether you like it or not," said Antony Lee, an attendee at the AfD's election party. "I am a father, I am an entrepreneur, and I know that things cannot continue like this in Germany."
The AfD's program includes plans to push schools and cultural institutions toward what it views as more traditional values, while curbing immigration and overhauling public broadcasting. It wants the children of refugees to be taught in segregated classes.
It has called for rainbow flags in schools to be banned and for the German national flag to be hoisted every day. The national anthem would be sung by students and staff at school celebrations. Other proposals include citizen patrols, more teaching of Russian in schools and a halt to building new wind farms.
