Following its strong performance in the recent state election in eastern Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is positioned to assume a leading role in Saxony-Anhalt’s government, marking a potential shift in regional political dynamics. AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund, former salesman and party figurehead, aims to form a coalition to secure a parliamentary majority and implement a set of far-right policy initiatives that could significantly diverge from established practices in Germany.
The party plans to use Saxony-Anhalt as a testing ground for its platform, which emphasizes restrictive immigration policies, education reform, cultural realignment, and a robust security agenda. These proposals include measures such as reducing migration, reshaping school curricula to focus less on the Nazi era and more on 19th-century German history and figures like Otto von Bismarck, and cutting funding for cultural institutions perceived as promoting "anti-German" objectives.
Siegmund has stated that the party will maintain its core positions, describing policies on immigration, security, energy, and the economy as nonnegotiable. However, some of the AfD’s broader ambitions—such as Germany’s withdrawal from the European Union, abandoning the euro currency, lifting sanctions on Russia, and ending support for Ukraine—fall outside the authority of a state-level government and would require federal approval.
The party’s immigration proposals have proven especially controversial. The AfD advocates for “remigration,” a concept advocating for the removal of non-nationals, including certain naturalized citizens, a stance rooted in far-right ethno-nationalist ideology. Siegmund insists that German citizens and those legally residing in the country would not be targeted but calls for employer restrictions on hiring migrants deemed “culture-distant.” The platform also includes measures to expel European Union migrants receiving benefits, revoke citizenship from dual nationals convicted of crimes, strip Ukrainians of refugee status and benefits, and confine asylum seekers to isolated centers where they would be compelled to work and have assets seized. Many of these immigration policies would require cooperation from the federal government, presenting potential implementation barriers.
In education, the AfD proposes segregated classrooms for children of migrants with low prospects of remaining in Germany and the removal of students with serious disabilities from mainstream classrooms. It further calls for teachers to swear loyalty oaths to the German people and homeland. Other cultural policies include increased funding for Russian-language education, reduction of subsidies for Catholic and Lutheran churches, and potential funding cuts to museums, theaters, orchestras, and non-governmental organizations viewed as opposing party values.
Security plans include the unprecedented proposal to establish a volunteer militia under municipal police oversight to assist with policing in smaller communities. This initiative has raised concerns among experts; Benjamin Höhne, a political scientist at Chemnitz University, characterized it as a potentially alarming effort to create a “political shock troop” aligned with the party.
Saxony-Anhalt recorded one of the highest rates of far-right motivated crimes per capita in Germany last year, according to official statistics. Observers, including Remko Leemhuis of the American Jewish Committee, have expressed concern that the party’s ascendance could undermine efforts to combat far-right extremism and antisemitism. While far-right parties in countries such as France and Italy have moderated upon gaining power, Leemhuis noted that the AfD appears to be moving in the opposite direction, intensifying its radical positions.
The AfD rejects accusations of extremism, asserting that its platform promotes conservative ideas once mainstream in Germany. Nonetheless, the party’s proposals for Saxony-Anhalt have ignited debate over the future political course of the state and its implications for Germany’s broader democratic and social fabric. Negotiations to form a governing coalition are expected to be protracted, and legal as well as constitutional challenges may complicate the party’s ability to enact its full agenda.