Sahra Wagenknecht: Joint dinner between AfD and BSW in Saxony-Anhalt “completely wrong”

In the photos from the evening, Sachsen-Anhalt's BSW deputy parliamentary group leader Claudia Wittig and AfD parliamentary group leader Oliver Kirchner toast each other, and BSW state leader John Lucas Dittrich can also be seen in a good mood above the caption "Prima Klima": The photos were published by the right-wing extremist "Compact" magazine. It had invited BSW and AfD to a studio opening including a joint dinner. Now there is criticism within the ranks of the BSW about its proximity to the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, which is classified as right-wing extremist.

BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht clearly condemned the food to SPIEGEL. Talking to all parties represented in the state parliament is the right thing to do, she said. But: “Dinners together are completely wrong.”

BSW boss Fabio De Masi had made it clear just one day after the meeting on However, he did not explicitly mention the meeting.

"We regret the mistake, something like this will not happen again"

Now the BSW state deputy parliamentary group leader Wittig, who was involved in the meal, also admitted a mistake: "The impression of political closeness conveyed by the photos is wrong," she told SPIEGEL. It was unwise to stay for dinner after the studio opened. “We regret the mistake, something like this will not happen again,” said Wittig. In the future, however, she will continue to speak to all parties represented in the state parliament and “look for and use majorities for sensible positions.”

Wittig had previously defended himself on

The right-wing extremist journalist and “Compact” editor-in-chief Jürgen Elsässer wrote on X on Friday about a “historic meeting”. They invited all members of the state parliament from BSW and AfD to the opening of their Magdeburg TV studio on Thursday, "25 members did us the honor (all five from BSW, 20 from AfD)." The closed event served “to get to know each other personally,” but “many strategic questions were also discussed.”

The meeting took place two days after the historic election in the parliament of Saxony-Anhalt: With Tobias Rausch, a politician from a right-wing extremist party has held the office of state parliament president for the first time since National Socialism. Since the AfD itself does not have an absolute majority, it had to rely on votes from other parties. Even before the election, the BSW had announced that it wanted to elect Rausch and thus secure its majority.

You can read more about the BSW's risky strategy of supporting the AfD while keeping its distance here.