"Only idiots or traitors can rejoice in it": the triumph of Alternative for Germany makes Europe tremble
The results of Saxony-Anhalt have been read as an omen of the penetration of the extreme right into the political front line
BrusselsThe most feared forecasts for Brussels have come to pass. For the first time since the fall of Nazism the German far-right has real options to govern a state. The results in Saxony-Anhalt have fallen like a bucket of cold water in the community capital, where the victory of Alternative for Germany (AfD) is read as a harbinger of the penetration of this intolerant ideology not into the hemicycle –where it has long had a few seats reserved– but into the front line of executive power. A reading contrary to that made by the most populist leaders, who see the results as a political springboard.
"A very worrying sign". With this expression, the first two European capitals to assess the results of the German regional elections, Paris and Warsaw, have reacted, while Brussels remains silent. "We are facing an important challenge in the face of a populist wave that is spreading around the world today and which we must resist," said the French Minister of Finance, Roland Lescure, this morning. Hours earlier, the French Minister for European Affairs, Benjamin Haddad, said that the elections in Saxony-Anhalt mark "a very serious moment for Europe" and called for listening "with humility" to "the anger, fears and concerns" of the citizenry in order to be able to provide a response. The Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, expressed himself with more forcefulness, assuring that "only idiots or traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD in Germany".
The alarm in the capitals arises not only from the possibility that the AfD ends up governing the state –where the rest of the forces are evaluating the possibilities of forming a fragile sanitary cordon–, but from the underlying diagnosis that they share: the victory of the ultra formation is symptomatic of a malaise transversal across all of Europe. And this, with the presidential elections in France in 2027 on the horizon, raises fears of an accelerated erosion of the traditional parties and a European Council tilted further to the right than ever.
On the other hand, the most populist and far-right forces have seen in the Saxony-Anhalt election the validation of their political project. "Another Europe is possible," said Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on Sunday night. The "overwhelming success" of Alice Weidel's party, Salvini asserted, "highlights the strong demand for change, security, and jobs." "Get ready. This is just the beginning!" declared former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a congratulatory message addressed to AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Ulrich Siegmund.
Vox leader Santiago Abascal and Portuguese extremist André Ventura have also weighed in. Abascal described the results as a "great hope for Germany and for Europe," and the president of the far-right party Chega celebrated that the Germans are "opening their eyes against illegal and uncontrolled immigration."