The candidate who led the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party to a historic state election victory in Germany has thanked Elon Musk for his support, as one French minister warned that this was a “serious moment” for Europe.
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this → lead → Europe
The AfD more than doubled its support in the Saxony-Anhalt region and appears to be on the brink of becoming the first far-right party to gain power in Germany at state level since the second world war.
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AfD → double → war
On Sunday night, Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate, thanked Musk on X “for your support and for your clear and highly important perspective on the political developments of our time”, adding: “I would very much welcome the opportunity for strong and constructive cooperation”.
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I → thank → cooperation
Siegmund wrote his comments after Musk said “Well done!” in German to AfD co-founder Alice Weidel, when she posted about the projected win.
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she → write → win
Earlier, US president Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the election projection without comment on his Truth Social site.
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Trump → post → site
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev took a screengrab of Trump’s post and praised a “historic win for the pragmatic AfD”.
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Dmitriev → take → AfD
AfD is pro-Kremlin, urging a stop to support for Ukraine and pushing for Ukrainians to no longer receive refugee status.
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Ukrainians → urge → status
Despite its resounding victory, AfD fell just short of winning a majority.
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AfD → fall → majority
The party was seeking an absolute majority in the state legislature to govern alone and overcome the so-called firewall of mainstream parties’ refusal to work with AfD.
Final results showed AfD falling three seats short, with 39 lawmakers in an 83-member parliament.
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AfD → seek → parliament
However, it still remains unclear as to how and whether the AfD will be able to form a government, having ruled out entering a coalition and being refused any form of cooperation by the mainstream parties.
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AfD → remain → parties
AfD won 43.8% of the vote, more than double its showing five years ago in the region of 2.1 million people west of Berlin.
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AfD → win → Berlin
That was far ahead of Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, which polled 17.2% – losing about half its support – and won 15 seats.
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which → poll → seats
The centre-left Social Democrats polled 9.3%, the Greens 8.9% and the Left party 8.6%, winning eight seats apiece.
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party → poll → seats
The BSW party, which has said it wouldn’t elect either Siegmund or incumbent Sven Schulze as governor but criticises the “firewall” against AfD, took 5.3% and fives seats.
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it → say → %
France’s Europe minister, Benjamin Haddad, described the win as “a serious moment in Europe”, warning that “nationalism and xenophobia will never be a solution”.
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nationalism → describe → Europe
“We must listen with humility to the anger, the concerns, the fears, and respond to them,” he added.
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he → listen → them
“We cannot forget our history.
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We → forget → history
That is the meaning behind the choices made by France and Germany.”
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That → make → France
Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, said: “In Poland, only idiots or traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD in Germany.”
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idiots → say → Germany
The German Economic Institute has warned of the far-reaching consequences for the German economy, in Saxony-Anhalt and beyond.
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Institute → warn → Anhalt
It said the AfD’s immigration policy would be “calamitous” for the state, which has an ageing, dwindling population and is heavily dependent on foreign workers.
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which → say → workers
Critics have also warned that an AfD-run state, due to the Kremlin-friendly stance of the party, could leak sensitive information to Russia.
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state → warn → Russia
The AfD has dismissed such claims.
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AfD → dismiss → claims
It has said it would seek to reform the domestic intelligence service, calling it biased.
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it → say → it
The Aporia
