Germany's far-right AfD eyes historic state victory in Saxony-Anhalt election

Voters in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt will go to the polls on Sunday in a closely watched election that could see the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) become the first far-right party to take ​power at a state ‌level since World War II. Under the smiling and telegenic 35-year-old leader Ulrich Siegmund, the party has been polling ⁠comfortably ahead for months, and there is a genuine chance the AfD could take an absolute majority on Sunday evening – particularly if several smaller parties fail to clear Germany's 5 percent threshold to ‌enter parliament. The AfD's key campaign promises include a "remigration and deportation offensive", a ban on LGBTQ pride rainbow flags at public schools and an end to new wind farms. Read moreGermany: Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, the ideologist behind the AFD’s plans in Saxony-Anhalt Germany's domestic intelligence agency considers the AfD chapter Siegmund represents as "right-wing extremist" with links to ethno-nationalist groups and think-tanks. Siegmund was present at a 2023 secret meeting near Berlin where extreme right-wing activists discussed a radical "remigration" plan to forcibly expel millions of people with a migrat...