Rise of the AfD: Germany's Post-War Protection Against Far-Right Extremism Wears Thin

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved a historic victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state elections, securing 44% of the vote. This result indicates a significant decline in Germany's traditional resistance to extreme political movements, as voters, particularly those struggling economically, increasingly support the nationalist party despite its controversial reputation. The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party Alice Weidel gives an interview as she arrives at the AfD's election party following Saxony-Anhalt's state elections. Germany's post-war inoculation against far-right extremism has been on the wane for over a decade and, on Sunday, it finally gave up. Voters in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt embraced the Alternative for Germany to an unprecedented extent: it won 44 per cent support on a record turnout of 76 per cent. Even with such numbers, the party's path to power in the eastern German state without an overall majority is not straightforward. And yet the direction of travel in Germany politics is clear. Warnings about political extremism and the dangers to democracy posed by the AfD cut no ice with many voters, particularly, post-election analysis showed, with those struggling with the cost of living and fearful of their social status. With local leader Ulrich Siegmund, a 35 year-old politician who won the social media battle, the AfD put in a barnstorming performance. It reactivated 160,000 non-voters, more than 10 per cent of its total tally and secured 53 per cent support among 35-59 year-olds in the state. Most AfD voters acknowledge some extreme right politicians in their party's ranks but, in a post-election poll on Sunday, some 87 per cent of its voters view the party, on the whole, as a centrist political force. For some this is a further normalisation of German politics, bringing it in line with countries from Finland to Austria, where national conservative populists have been political pacemakers for decades. Next Sunday's general election in Sweden could bring another watershed, if a win for the incumbent centre-right camp sees the far-right Sweden Democrats welcomed into a new ruling coalition. 'The Irish are the Brazilians of Europe': Inside Dublin's growing community from BrazilSarah Moss's last Irish Times column: 'Being hated on the internet has begun to tint my life' AfD politicians see themselves as part of a big pan-European political correction. Yet their embrace of patriotic populism, paired with warnings of 'culturally alien' people, strikes a different note in Germany for obvious historical reasons. As the smoke cleared in Saxony-Anhalt on Monday, the real casualty of the state election is German chancellor Friedrich Merz. The 70 year-old took office a year ago promising to 'halve' AfD support. Instead he has watched that fate befall his own party, the Christian Democratic Union , admitting that Sunday's result was the worst the party had endured in many years. The party has yet to take on board, emotionally and politically, its warnings – some would say lectures – to voters about the perils of the AfD, now Germany's most popular political party in opinion polls with 28 per cent support nationally. Even after seven lean years, the Merz administration's efforts to kickstart the German economy lack ambition and urgency. He said yesterday that the result is something Germany cannot move past ' as if nothing happened. ' The question is whether he can construct a response which resonates with German voters. Rules for seeking Irish citizenship to be tightened under new planSolicitor James MacGuill, who acted in several landmark cases, dies aged 63