AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt with 43.8% and falls three seats short of an absolute majority

South Africa

2 SOURCES

Socio-economic and Protest-oriented Reading · 4 of 17 countries

Pretoria takes note of the Saxe-Anhalt election, less for the AfD's breakthrough than for the vote of no confidence it represents against Friedrich Merz's coalition.

Germany

3 SOURCES

Institutional Reading of the Arithmetic Impasse · 5 of 17 countries

Berlin is assessing the arithmetic impasse opened up by this election: the AfD does not have a majority, but no anti-AfD coalition is possible without the BSW.

Argentina

3 SOURCES

Institutional Reading of the Arithmetic Impasse · 5 of 17 countries

Buenos Aires is analyzing the arithmetic that is blocking the AfD: 39 seats out of 83, a BSW that has returned to the threshold of 5%, and a cordon sanitaire that has become impractical due to the lack of an alternative majority in Saxony-Anhalt.

Belgium

2 SOURCES

Institutional Reading of the Arithmetic Impasse · 5 of 17 countries

Belgium recognizes in the blocked arithmetic of Magdeburg the same constraints as its own sanitary cordon against the far right, without any alternative coalition being able to gather the 42 seats needed to counter the 39 of the AfD.

Brazil

2 SOURCES

Socio-economic and Protest-oriented Reading · 4 of 17 countries

Brazil views the Saxony-Anhalt election as a rebuke of Chancellor Merz rather than a shift towards the far right, going so far as to translate the function of "minister-president" into its local equivalent of "governor".

Canada

incl. 1 state outlet

3 SOURCES

Institutional Reading of the Arithmetic Impasse · 5 of 17 countries

Ottawa is breaking down the arithmetic that is blocking Magdeburg: the AfD is three seats short of an absolute majority, and the surprise entry of the BSW also closes the door to a unified coalition against it.

Spain

2 SOURCES

Socio-economic and Protest-oriented Reading · 4 of 17 countries

Madrid is analyzing the East German discontent that propelled the AfD by 23 points in five years, without giving in to the triumphalism displayed by its far-right allies.

United States

2 SOURCES

Echoes and Fault Lines in the Politics of Other Countries · 6 of 17 countries

Washington measures how far its own political figures are associated with the AfD's breakthrough, which the American press treats as the decisive test of Germany's “firewall” rather than a simple regional election.

France

incl. 1 state outlet

5 SOURCES

Echoes and Fault Lines in the Politics of Other Countries · 6 of 17 countries

Paris fears the fallout of a German electoral earthquake, as the silence of the National Rally is being scrutinized just as much as the concern expressed by the left and the center.

Hungary

3 SOURCES

Echoes and Fault Lines in the Politics of Other Countries · 6 of 17 countries

Budapest sees the Saxony-Anhalt score of the AfD as a signal sent to all of Europe, while Warsaw is torn over the same news.

Italy

3 SOURCES

Echoes and Fault Lines in the Politics of Other Countries · 6 of 17 countries

Rome is divided between Matteo Salvini's enthusiasm for the AfD and Antonio Tajani's warning, as the Italian press highlights the arithmetic deadlock that prevents any majority in Saxony-Anhalt.

Portugal

2 SOURCES

Echoes and Fault Lines in the Politics of Other Countries · 6 of 17 countries

Lisbon is feeling the ripple effects within its own political landscape: the leader of Chega, André Ventura, hailed a "historic victory" for the AfD just hours after the polls closed in Saxony-Anhalt.

Romania

2 SOURCES

Echoes and Fault Lines in the Politics of Other Countries · 6 of 17 countries

Bucharest views the AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt as less significant in terms of its 43.8% share than the shockwave it is producing beyond Germany's borders, between the praise from Moscow and Musk and the warnings from Warsaw and Paris.

Russia

incl. 2 state outlets

4 SOURCES

Socio-economic and Protest-oriented Reading · 4 of 17 countries

Moscow attributes the rise of the AfD more to Berlin's anti-Russian and energy turnaround, highlighted by its own experts and relayed by a Russian senator, rather than a protest vote.

Sweden

3 SOURCES

Sociocultural and Identity-based Reading of the Vote · 2 of 17 countries

Stockholm recalls from Saxony-Anhalt less the arithmetic deadlock of the Landtag than the East German nostalgia and the radical profile of the winner, as described by its special envoys in Magdeburg.

Switzerland

2 SOURCES

Institutional Reading of the Arithmetic Impasse · 5 of 17 countries

Bern is analyzing the blocked arithmetic of the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag, where the AfD is winning without governing due to the three seats it lacks.

Turkey

incl. 1 state outlet

2 SOURCES

Sociocultural and Identity-based Reading of the Vote · 2 of 17 countries

Ankara sees the AfD's breakthrough in Saxony-Anhalt as a sign of social distrust towards migrants from predominantly Muslim countries, rather than just a regional electoral shift.