Saxon Minister Köpping: AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt is a wake-up call for Berlin

The Saxon Social Minister Petra Köpping (SPD) sees the AfD's victory in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt as a wake-up call for federal politics. “The focus is now on Berlin: the federal government must make it clear that it is drawing the right lessons from this result,” said the 68-year-old to the German Press Agency in Dresden.

Köpping: Election evening affected me personally

“The election evening in Saxony-Anhalt was drastic and affected me personally: I would not have thought it possible that a partly right-wing extremist party would become by far the strongest force in a federal state,” emphasized Köpping. The result shows that the parties in the political center are in a deep crisis of trust. Köpping is a member of the SPD federal executive board and social minister in Saxony.

In the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, the AfD was by far the strongest force with 43.8 percent of the vote. The CDU fell to 17.2 percent. However, the AfD cannot govern alone due to the lack of an absolute majority. The SPD got 9.3 percent, the Greens 8.9 percent and the Left 8.6 percent. The BSW enters parliament with 5.3 percent. For a majority, 42 seats in parliament are required; the AfD has 39.