The Protestant regional bishop for Magdeburg, Bettina Schlauraff, has stated that her church sees itself as a place of protection for people who experience discrimination. "So we as a church are not apolitical, because the issues of justice, peace and the preservation of creation are, so to speak, written in our hearts." She added: "Someone has to explain to people why the AfD is right-wing extremist." It's now about "doing a lot of educational work, a lot of encounter work, a lot of advisory work - and explaining again how democracy works."
If there is an AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt, "people will notice that politics is different in many places," says political scientist Benjamin Höhne from Chemnitz University of Technology in an interview with tagesschau24. Some wanted exactly that - but "for others it will mean serious cuts," said Höhne. This leads to some people openly thinking about leaving the country.
Höhne identifies a future focus of a possible AfD state government in the “culture war area”. There, “relatively large effects can be achieved for one’s own following” without major costs. The political scientist cites attempts to influence the courts, protection of minorities, public broadcasting, financing of churches, freedom of universities, schools and educational plans as examples of "gateways".
Saxony-Anhalt's FDP state chairwoman Lydia Hüskens will remain in office until the next regular party conference in just over seven months. In a statement from the state party it was said that Hüskens was standing down as chairwoman. She will run the business in coordination with the state executive board until the next regular state party conference at the beginning of March.
“I am responsible for the result,” Hüskens is quoted in the statement. “But responsibility also means not leaving any gaps.” The regional association doesn't need a hanging game, and the decision should be well prepared. Therefore, three regional conferences are to be held in Halle, Magdeburg and Dessau, at which candidates for the state chairmanship can present themselves. The election results should also be debated.
The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt wants to invite all parties represented in the state parliament to exploratory talks. “Tomorrow, every party represented in the state parliament will receive a letter from us inviting us to exploratory talks,” said the parliamentary managing director of the AfD state parliamentary group, Tobias Rausch, on the MDR program “Fakt ist”. "Of course, because we don't have an absolute majority now, we are willing to compromise on certain things." We'll see who accepts the offers to talk. When asked, he named the CDU and BSW as specific possible discussion partners.
BSW top candidate Claudia Wittig once again emphasized that she did not want to enter into a coalition with the AfD. "We have always said that we will not enter into a coalition. We want the government to be governed by changing majorities." It's about finding majorities for individual projects. The CDU had also clearly ruled out a coalition with the AfD.
After the AfD's election victory in Saxony-Anhalt, initiatives and projects against right-wing extremism are calling for help from outside. Saxony-Anhalt should not be left alone, federal politics must also politically support and protect the local people, said the managing director of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, Timo Reinfrank, to journalists. To this end, the foundation launched a petition for a “democracy protective shield”.
Robert Fietzke, head of the Zora socio-cultural center in Halberstadt, said a new wave of racist and right-wing violence would now begin. There is a risk of a new edition of the “baseball bat years” of the 1990s. If the AfD takes over the Ministry of the Interior in a new state government, the police cannot be expected to provide effective protection, said Fietzke. Many people who turned against the AfD during the election campaign are now sad and frustrated - and afraid.
BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has repeatedly called for gas to be imported from Russia again. Wagenknecht announced that the BSW parliamentary group would submit a corresponding application to the new state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt: “Our gas storage facilities are empty before winter than ever before,” she told the Reuters news agency. "In one of our first motions in the Magdeburg state parliament, we will call for the opening of Nord Stream and the return to Russian gas in order to fill the gas storage facilities as quickly as possible by winter."
She assumes that there will be a majority in favor of this in the new state parliament - "including the votes of the AfD." “That would be a strong signal for a new political beginning if Saxony-Anhalt calls for an end to the fatal Russia sanctions.”
The EU wants to completely stop using Russian gas by the end of 2027. Germany has no longer imported gas from Russia since 2022. Around 20 percent of gas imports currently come from the Netherlands, 24 percent from Belgium and 42 percent from Norway. Around 13 percent of gas imports come to Germany as liquefied natural gas (LNG). The gas storage facilities in Germany are currently about half full.
Against the backdrop of the AfD's success in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) highlighted the contribution of immigrants to Germany's economic success. “You have made this country economically stronger and culturally richer,” said the Vice-Chancellor in his speech when the budget was introduced to the Bundestag. “Especially in these days” it must be clear: “We do not accept racism or exclusionary policies in a democracy,” said Klingbeil, indirectly referring to the election in Saxony-Anhalt.
Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) has criticized the concept of the firewall. He told the broadcaster Welt TV that the election in Saxony-Anhalt was a “final warning shot”. That's why he is firmly convinced: "Talk to everyone, talk about everything, build bridges in the middle, don't push them behind firewalls. That's the wrongest path you can take."
In terms of content, Rhein further ruled out collaboration with the AfD. The firewall was always a metaphor for the CDU to make this clear. It will stay that way. "No decent Christian Democrat wants to form a coalition with the AfD. That's not possible."
However, he called for more openness towards AfD voters. Many are just unsettled and afraid of relegation. "What kind of attitude is this, leaving people behind a firewall? Well, there's a fire there - and we don't bring people in behind the firewall? That's not Christian Democratic." What is more Christian Democratic is “to get these people out of there and build bridges for them into the middle.
It may be necessary to “slow down the pace” of the planned reforms and initially limit yourself to the most important elements.
After a shot from a compressed air weapon at participants in a demonstration in Halle after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the police state security agency has started an investigation. A 25-year-old demonstrator was slightly injured in the face by a bullet and was treated on site by rescue workers, local police said. At least one shot from a compressed air weapon was fired by a previously unknown person from an adjacent residential building.
How was the AfD able to rise so quickly in Saxony-Anhalt? The mdr investigated this question. The result is the “Playbook of Right-Wing Populism”. It shows that patterns can be observed in Saxony-Anhalt that are already known from populists in Austria, Hungary and the USA.
The former President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Hans-Jürgen Papier, believes that cooperation between the CDU and AfD is possible after the election in Saxony-Anhalt. This is conceivable in certain questions. It is crucial that Saxony-Anhalt remains able to act and govern.
39 to 39: This is what the result could look like in a prime ministerial election in Saxony-Anhalt if the BSW abstains from the third round of voting as announced. This would mean that AfD leading candidate Siegmund would be one vote short of becoming prime minister. Unless individual CDU MPs vote for him in the secret vote.
But the CDU believes in closed ranks. This is what the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Sepp Müller, said to RTL/ntv: "I firmly assume that he (Sven Schulze) can put his hand in the fire to ensure that this question you ask is answered with no."
If there are defectors, "then we as CDU Germany have a completely different problem than having someone elected in the secret vote."
Speculation about AfD support from individual CDU representatives has been going on for months.
The CDU social wing urgently warns against a personnel debate because of the AfD's success in Saxony-Anhalt. "To believe that everything will be fine overnight with an exchange of heads is adventurous," said the chairman of the Christian Democratic Workers' Association (CDA), Dennis Radtke, to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
"Especially in light of our constitution, you don't simply replace the top man like you would a coach or sports director in football." What's more important now is "that we don't stumble into a government crisis after the shocking election results in Saxony-Anhalt," Radtke continued. At the same time, he called for clarification about the Union's political course.
How is federal politics dealing with the AfD success? The federal government is discussing changes to the planned social reforms.
The left-wing politician and former Prime Minister of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, commented with concern on the results of the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. "Over 50 percent [...] of the highest voter turnout of all time in a federal state put a cross in a place that clearly says: We are rejecting everything we know about West German debates," said Ramelow on Bayern 2. For him, the development was "an alarming sign of German unity."
Many people in the East felt “no longer noticed.” Unfortunately, their reaction was to "get the necessary momentum from a fascist party or neo-fascist party in order to show everyone else."
BSW co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali has commented on her party's possible collaboration with the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt. “To be honest, I don’t think that a lot of our content could get through because there is little in common,” she told WDR5.
One thing they have in common, however, is the topic of energy. They want to implement a Federal Council initiative for affordable energy in Saxony-Anhalt. "You have to be prepared to work together across party lines on the matter. And we bring this openness with us. We will stick to the technical work very consistently," said Mohamed Ali in an interview with Bayern2.
Otherwise, the BSW will stick to its course and elect neither Sven Schulze (CDU) nor Ulrich Siegmund (AfD) as Prime Minister.
The BSW in Saxony-Anhalt had also confirmed its willingness to abstain from a third round of voting in the state parliament if AfD lead candidate Siegmund stood for election.
At a gas station, with tourists in Dessau-Roßlau and at industrial companies: the mdr asked around in Saxony-Anhalt after the state elections. This is how people look at the result:
The BSW could take on an important role for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt - for example in the election of a prime minister. BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has announced that collaboration on individual projects could be discussed. "We will make common policies with anyone who is willing to implement the changes that the people of our country want." She also brought up the idea of electing a “non-partisan Prime Minister” on ZDF.
However, AfD leader Tino Chrupalla rejected this model in the ZDF program “Lanz”. For the AfD, “there can only be one Prime Minister Ulrich Siegmund,” said Chrupalla. "And we won't let go of that either. Why should we now agree to a change of people in any way or run after a party with just under six percent in any way?"
The BSW got 5.3 percent of the votes in the state elections.
The President of the Thuringian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer, has discussed preventive restrictions on the exchange of sensitive intelligence information in the event of an AfD-led state government in Saxony-Anhalt.
If "concrete doubts arise about the secret protection of a political leadership", the Office for the Protection of the Constitution must be prepared for graduated information rights, the principle of "knowledge only if necessary" and, if necessary, a limited disclosure of particularly sensitive information, Kramer told the Editorial Network Germany (RND).
Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) and Hamburg's Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD) also made similar statements. An AfD state government is a threat to national security.
After the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, a district administrator from the SPD called on the other parties to hold talks with the election winner, the AfD. “The AfD is democratically elected and is clearly the strongest force,” said Markus Bauer, district administrator in the Salzland district, to the news portal t-online. “She cannot now be ignored and excluded.”
The AfD is classified as definitely right-wing extremist by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt. “All parties should now talk to each other and explore coalition options,” demanded Bauer. The other parties in the state parliament had ruled out a coalition with the AfD before the election.
Bauer is vice president of the Saxony-Anhalt district council and has been district administrator in the Salzland district since 2014. In the state elections on Sunday, the AfD got 49.7 percent, the SPD only 7.5.
After the election in Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin's CDU top candidate Stefan Evers clearly spoke out against working with the AfD. “The AfD stands for pretty much everything that doesn’t define Berlin,” Evers told rbb. Berlin stands for cosmopolitanism, internationality and cohesion across cultural borders. "The AfD wants to destroy exactly that. And that's why I will do everything I can and everything we have to ensure that there is never any cooperation with this AfD," said Evers.
A new House of Representatives will be elected in Berlin on September 20th.
The CDU in Saxony-Anhalt is standing after the disastrous state elections
