AfD's Saxony-Anhalt win tests Europe's far-right cordon sanitaire

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a sweeping victory in Sunday's regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, securing 44% of the vote and prompting renewed debate over the effectiveness of the "cordon sanitaire" strategy used to isolate such parties. This result challenges the viability of the political firebreak, as other parties now face the difficult task of forming a heterogeneous coalition to keep AfD from power. The cordon sanitaire, a pact among mainstream parties to exclude the far right, has been a cornerstone of European politics for 25 years, notably in France and Germany. While it has kept parties like AfD and Marine Le Pen's National Rally from governing, critics argue it also fuels their growth by allowing them to pose as anti-establishment victims, concentrating protest votes and avoiding the wear of governance. Experts suggest the strategy needs rethinking rather than abandonment, noting that its application in a small state like Saxony-Anhalt may force unstable alliances that could backfire. France, where Le Pen leads polls for the 2027 presidential election, is seen as the next major test of whether the cordon sanitaire remains a viable democratic barrier or becomes a self-defeating mechanism.