Berlin parties shocked by AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt two weeks before state election

Berlin’s major parties reacted with alarm after the AfD emerged well ahead in Saxony-Anhalt, just two weeks before Berlin elects its own state parliament. The AfD’s Berlin leader, Kristin Brinker, took the opposite view and congratulated the party on what she called a major victory.

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That a party officially classified as far-right leads so clearly in a German state parliament is a turning point for our country.

Berlin CDU Secretary-General Lukas Krieger said it marked a turning point for Germany that a party officially classified as far-right could lead so clearly in a state parliament. He said the result showed that Berlin’s “free and democratic foundation” was also at stake in the capital’s election.

SPD lead candidate Steffen Krach called the AfD result a “catastrophe.” As a father of three, he said he was deeply worried about whether his children would continue to live in a democracy in Germany. Green lead candidate Werner Graf also described the result as shocking.

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catastrophe

Elif Eralp, the Left’s lead candidate for Berlin’s state election, called it a “historic break” and said many people in Berlin were now afraid. Brinker, however, praised AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund and the Saxony-Anhalt party, saying they had achieved a result that few had recently believed possible.

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historic break

Current projections put the AfD at 44.2% in Saxony-Anhalt, far ahead of the CDU at 17.4%. The SPD and Greens each stand at 9%, the Left at 8.6%, and the BSW at 5.1%, just above the threshold to enter the state parliament. In Berlin, current polls place the Left first, followed by the CDU, Greens and AfD.

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Ulrich Siegmund and the Saxony-Anhalt AfD have achieved a great electoral victory and a result that no one would have thought the AfD capable of only recently.