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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Deborah Cole in Berlin

Why is the far-right AfD’s state victory significant and what might happen next in German politics?

AFD Friedrich Merz Ulrich Siegmund CDU Germany SaxonyAnhalt SPD
Ulrich Siegmund stands in the middle of a crowd of reporters at a press conference, with microphones held out towards him.
Ulrich Siegmund said before the vote he would only stand for election as premier with a clear majority. Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA

Germany is reeling from the biggest far-right victory in a state election since the Nazi period after voters in Saxony-Anhalt in the former communist east gave the anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party a thumping first-place finish of 44%, just short of an absolute majority.

What happened and why is it significant?

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