The high cost of living, the increase in the number of immigrants, the feeling of insecurity among citizens: these were the three main issues that explain the triumph of the German far-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in last Sunday’s elections, in the states of Thuringia and Saxony, in eastern (formerly communist) Germany.
First party in Thuringia and second, within breathing distance, of the right-wing Christian Democrats, in Saxony, AfD awakens the worst ghosts of European history. And although the rise of the German far-right has provoked negative reactions in European capitals, it is not surprising.
As Monde recalls, it was after its success in the Thuringian elections in 1929 that Germany’s Nazi party managed to gain control of a ministry at the regional (state level), four years before Hitler came to power. A century later, the German far-right has no chance of governing in either Thuringia or Saxony, as no party is willing to ally with it. However, with its high percentage, 33% in Thuringia and 31.4% in Saxony, it will be a minority with special weight in appointing officials to key positions.
Fragmentation of the political scene in Germany
The result of the elections in the two German states was described as a disaster for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the coalition government in which his party, the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals participate. Coupled with the rise of Zara Wagenknecht’s BSW, the fledgling far-left party (founded only in January 2024), which won the largest majority of the three parties in the governing coalition in Sunday’s election, the rise of the far-right demonstrates the fragmentation of the political setting in Germany. Common points in the programs of the AfD and the far-left party BSW are opposition to NATO, stricter immigration control measures and a friendly attitude towards Russia.
Concern for Europe as well
The strengthening of these parties and especially the AfD, due to the burdened Nazi past of the country, is not only worrying for Germany but also for Europe. The Franco-German axis, the core of the EU is being tested.
France remains without a government nearly two months after Macron lost a snap parliamentary election on July 7, with no hope of forming a government immediately, and Germany’s coalition government has become even more fragile after last Sunday’s election.
With the war in Ukraine continuing with no end in sight in the near future, the situation in the Middle East not inspiring optimism for the de-escalation of the crisis and the US presidential election in three months where the battle between the dangerous Trump and the moderate Democrat Kamala Harris remains ambiguous, Europe cannot afford to return to its dark past.
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