AfD's German state win sparks far-right warnings in Belgium's Wallonia

The AfD's victory in Germany's Saxony-Anhalt election has raised alarm in Belgium, with experts warning that fertile ground for far-right development exists in Wallonia. The party won 43.8% of the vote, more than double its 2021 score and over twice the CDU's 18.3%. This marks the first time since World War II that a far-right party could govern a German state, in a region where the Nazi party first gained power in 1932. Belgian politicians attribute the result to weak leadership, voter discontent, and feelings of economic decline. Political scientist Benjamin Biard notes that Wallonia shares similar conditions of perceived decline and poverty, though far-right groups there remain fragmented and blocked by the cordon sanitaire. He cautions that simply claiming right-wing identity, as MR president Georges-Louis Bouchez suggests, is insufficient to prevent extremism.