AfD wins big in Saxony-Anhalt but falls short of majority

The far-right Alternative for Germany party won a decisive victory in a regional election in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, securing 43.8 percent of the vote but falling three seats short of an absolute majority needed to form Germany's first far-right state government since World War II. The result was a major blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union, which slumped to 17.2 percent, losing about half its support after leading the state for 24 years. The AfD's candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, declared "we have written history" and claimed a clear mandate to govern, while ruling out a minority government. The AfD's win underscores its strength in the formerly communist east, though its regional branch is classified as a right-wing extremist group by domestic intelligence. The party advocates "remigration" of immigrants and lifting sanctions against Russia, while mainstream parties maintain a "firewall" refusing to cooperate with it, leaving the state's governance uncertain.