AfD scores historic win in Saxony-Anhalt, raising concerns for migrants
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Sunday scored a historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt, exit polls showed, intensifying concerns among Muslim, Syrian and other migrant communities over the party’s hardline policies on immigration, Islam and national identity.
The AfD won 44.5 percent of the vote, more than doubling its 20.8 percent result in the 2021 state election. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has governed the eastern state since 2002, was projected to receive 18.5 percent, down from 37.1 percent five years ago.
It remained unclear whether the AfD would secure enough seats in the state parliament to govern alone. Germany’s mainstream parties have maintained a political “firewall” against cooperation with the far-right party, ruling out an AfD-led coalition.
An AfD-led government would mark the first time since World War II that a far-right party has led a German state. The AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch has been classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization by the state’s domestic intelligence service.
The result is likely to heighten anxiety among Germany’s large Syrian community. Official statistics show that 936,285 Syrian nationals were living in Germany at the end of 2025, making Syrians one of the country’s largest foreign communities.
The AfD has campaigned for tougher deportation policies and has promoted “remigration,” a term critics say can blur the distinction between deporting people without legal residency and broader calls for the removal of migrants.
Even without forming a government, the scale of Sunday’s result could strengthen the AfD’s influence over Germany’s political debate, particularly on asylum, migration, Islam and integration.