BERLIN (AP) – Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany is in a lively mood as it holds a congress this weekend. He is taking advantage of the unpopularity of a government that is trying to do this reform the sluggish economyand seeing the promising prospects of power in an eastern region this autumn.
However, the anti-immigration nationalist party is as polarizing as ever. Her meeting is expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters to the eastern city of Erfurt.
A determined political force
The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is meeting to elect its leaders, which German parties do every two years. She will aim to put on a show of unity as she extends the term of Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, who have led the party together for four years.
In the last year national electionsThe AfD achieved the best showing by a far-right party since World War II. Its second-place finish left it as the largest opposition party nationally and the strongest political force in Germany’s former communist east. Her support has since climbed above the 20.8% she won then, with the latest estimates putting her in first place.
Weidel recently said that “2026 is a lucky year for the AfD”. The main parties they say they won’t work with it, a stance often known as a “firewall”.
But she hopes to win 40% or more of the vote in the Sept. 6 state election in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt. That could put him on track for an absolute majority or in a position where he could try to attract defectors, paving the way for the state’s first governor.
Another eastern state election follows two weeks later in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and the AfD is optimistic there as well.
A piece of power
“The AfD is standing at the door of power, to some extent,” said Albrecht von Lucke, a political expert who edits the magazine Blatter für deutsche und internationalpolitik.
The first head of AfD ia district administration was elected in 2023 in Thuringia, the state where Erfurt is located. It hasn’t happened since, as enough voters rallied around the top candidates to prevent a repeat.
But leading a state administration would be a far greater prize. Germany’s 16 states have broad powers, for example in running the education system and overseeing security matters.
Opponents worry about the possibility of the AfD replacing large numbers of civil servants if it governs Saxony-Anhalt, and the possibility that confidential information could end up in far-right circles or even in Russia. “An AfD interior minister would be a security risk,” Gregor Maier, Thuringia’s center-left interior minister, told ARD television.
AfD dismisses concerns about running a state government. “We will prove that we can do better and that is exactly what the old parties are afraid of,” Chrupalla said this week at a rally in Berlin.
Von Lucke, however, said it would be “a big challenge” for the party to show it can govern Saxony-Anhalt well, with internal conflicts likely. “A lot of talk is that it doesn’t work,” he said.
A government under pressure
The AfD has been helped by the deep unpopularity of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s national coalition government, which got the job 14 months ago with promises to reform and turn around Germany’s economy, the largest in Europe. It’s starting now potentially painful change after a long period of economic stagnation, but has not yet convinced voters that it can deliver results.
Merz prayed for patience.
“It’s always unrealistic to just bemoan the decline, cry and wait for a big bang,” he said at an industry meeting recently. “There won’t be one. We are in a reform process and we are moving forward in this process.”
“We want to show that solutions are possible from the political center of this country, that we also know the problems correctly”, he added.
But the AfD has long become adept at tapping into discontent with issues far beyond its signature theme of curbing migration, which powered its rise in the mid-2010s.
She has been supportive of the overall approach of the Trump administration, while criticizing the war in Iran. It has also long called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia and opposes arms shipments to Ukraine. Merz, Chrupalla said, “thinks he needs to escalate against Russia, like in the Cold War. He needs to build bridges.”
A party under surveillance
The AfD is embroiled in a battle with Germany’s domestic intelligence agency over the latter’s assessment of the party. Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution announced last year that it was classifying the AfD as a proven right-wing extremist group, but suspended the designation after a legal challenge. In February, a Cologne court said the agency cannot use the label while examining the party’s claim in detail.
Some want to see the party banned, and protesters expected to be out in force on Saturday and Sunday are likely to underline those calls. But Germany’s Supreme Court has put a stop to banning very high-profile parties in the past.
Opponents of the idea are wary of handing victory to the AfD by rejecting a plea for a ban after lengthy proceedings. Merz and conservative allies say the priority should be for the government to prove it can improve the lives of Germans.
In a 2025 report released on Tuesday, the intelligence agency said there were no indications the party had given up its problematic views.
“Many statements by the AfD and its representatives reflect an understanding of the nation that is based on ethnicity and ancestry and contradicts the understanding of the nation enshrined in Germany’s constitution,” he said. He noted calls for the “immigration” of millions of people and regular talk of an alleged planned “massive replacement” of the population.
The AfD strongly rejects accusations of extremism and argues that the agency is being armed by the main parties.
By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press. Kerstin Sopke in Berlin contributed to this report.
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