The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won yesterday, Sunday, September 6, the election in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, securing nearly 44% of the vote. The party thus more than doubled its score from 2021, leaving the CDU far behind.
At the European level, reactions from far-right movements reveal a rift between revolutionary and counter-revolutionary groups.
- In Spain, the AfD’s victory was hailed by Vox leader Santiago Abascal, who highlighted a “spectacular result” and “a great hope for Germany and for Europe.”
- The head of the Portuguese far-right Chega, André Ventura, also congratulated the party, posting on Twitter a photo beside Alice Weidel, accompanied by the message: “Germans are also waking up against illegal and uncontrolled immigration, corruption, and the capture of our freedom and our identity.”
- Tom Van Grieken, head of the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang party, also congratulated Weidel, as did the leader of the Czech SPD (Freedom and Direct Democracy) Tomio Okamura and Geert Wilders, head of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV).
In Finland, Riikka Purra, leader of the Finns Party, spoke of “the worst political turmoil since the end of World War II.”
In Italy, Giorgia Meloni’s coalition is likewise divided.
- Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, extended congratulations to Weidel for her victory, describing it as a “resounding success, which underscores the strong demand for change, security, and jobs. In the face of those on the left who fed fears and doomsday scenarios.”
- The head of Forza Italia and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani characterized the victory as “very bad news” and “a painful result that obliges us to understand the fears of many Europeans, and reminds the Union that community integration is not an automatic process.”
- He added: “the values of freedom, solidarity and rejection of any autocratic temptation are not a final conquest, but a goal that must be preserved and pursued day after day.”
Meloni has so far remained silent; her aides explained that the Italian prime minister “has never interfered in elections in other countries.”
- Roberto Vannacci, the general at the head of the new far-right formation Futuro Nazionale, rejoiced.
- On X, Elon Musk’s social network — who also congratulated the AfD on its victory — he wrote: “If half of the population is with the AfD, the accusations of extremism, by definition, evaporate and disappear. Extremism lies at the extremes: half cannot be extreme.”
In France, the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt was decried as a “grave moment,” a “disaster,” or a “very worrying signal” by nearly the entire political spectrum, with the exception of Eric Zemmour, the president of Reconquête, who argued that the cordon sanitaire “has only delayed the hour of truth. This hour has come. And it will ring out everywhere.”
- Neither Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the National Rally for the presidential election, nor party president Jordan Bardella reacted to the AfD victory. Bardella had said on Saturday, September 5, that no alliance was planned with the German far-right party, noting “a number of disagreements.”
- Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a deputy for the RN, said yesterday, Sunday the 6th, that he “takes note of a popular vote of frustration against system parties that do not manage immigration, the economy, or energy prices,” while recalling his party’s rupture with the AfD.