AfD's Saxony-Anhalt win tests Germany's far-right firewall

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a landslide victory in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt, securing 43.8% of the vote and posing the biggest test yet to the country's political "firewall" against cooperation with the party. The AfD's candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, aims to become the first far-right head of a state government and has said he will reach out to all parties to assemble a majority. The hard-left BSW party, which won 5.3%, has expressed willingness to help the AfD take office, potentially enabling Germany's first far-right state government since World War II. Mainstream parties have long refused to work with the AfD, which is classified as extremist in some regions, partly due to Germany's Nazi past. A five-party coalition excluding the AfD would be highly unstable, and the AfD needs only three defections from other parties to govern.