AfD's Rise in Germany: Five Reasons Behind Its Electoral Gains

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won its strongest-ever state election result in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, more than doubling its previous support and decisively beating Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU, which secured around 18 percent. The victory marks the latest milestone in the AfD's transformation from a fringe protest movement into a major political force, driven by five key factors: central focus on anti-immigration rhetoric, deep-rooted economic and identity grievances in eastern Germany, the country's struggling economy, growing pressure on the political "firewall" against the party, and nostalgia for East German identity alongside pro-Russia sentiment. The party's breakthrough at the national level came in February 2025, when it secured 20.8 percent of the federal vote, and its Saxony-Anhalt branch has been classified as "right-wing extremist" by domestic intelligence, with some staff reportedly linked to a banned neo-Nazi organisation.