AfD's Historic Win in Saxony-Anhalt Shakes German Politics

The far-right AfD party scored a historic victory in Germany's Saxony-Anhalt state election, winning nearly 44% of the vote and 39 of 83 parliamentary seats, though falling short of an absolute majority. The result has sent shockwaves through German politics, with the government calling it a historic turning point. The populist BSW party narrowly cleared the 5% threshold with five seats and has signaled openness to helping the AfD form a government, though it has not committed. The result marks a failure of the "Brandmauer" strategy to isolate the AfD, while Chancellor Merz's tougher asylum policy backfired as the AfD doubled its support and the CDU was halved. A prolonged coalition deadlock is possible as no legal deadline exists for forming a government. The AfD plans controversial measures including segregated classes for asylum children and banning rainbow flags in schools, though many proposals face constitutional or federal hurdles. Two more state elections follow in two weeks.