โBrutalโ results for VW turn political in Germany
Germany’s top carmaker faces a financial bloodbath โ and that means trouble for the government.
Saxony
Swedish MEP wants anyone applying for citizenship to recognise Israel
Only the German state of Saxony-Anhalt was required to recognise the State of Israel for citizenship.
German far right quarrels over MP who teaches music in Moscow academy
The incident exacerbates party division.
Please forgive our politicians for desperately courting Taylor Swift
If Tay Tay comes calling, you listen.
โDoing a Bidenโ is new international shorthand for ousting past-due leaders
Facing looming national elections, Japanโs Fumio Kishida, Canadaโs Justin Trudeau and Germanyโs Olaf Scholz have all faced calls to follow in the U.S. presidentโs footsteps.
German far-right politician accused of using political prisoners as cheap labour in Belarus
Reports of dissenters working for ยฃ4 a day on onion plantation owned by Saxony state parliament AfD member Jรถrg DornauMidway through Nikolaiโs shift sorting onions alongside other political prisoners in a warehouse in western Belarus, a tall and bald f…
Meat is murder (if you accidentally mention it in a speech)
Keir Starmer’s sausages/hostages mix-up was a gaffe for the ages.
Lukashenkoโs prisoners used as cheap labor by far-right German onion tycoon
Alternative for Germany is back in the spotlight over Saxony politician’s business dealings in Belarus.
The Guardian view on Olaf Scholzโs struggling coalition: running out of time | Editorial
A pyrrhic victory for social democrats in the latest state election offers scant consolation. The German far right continues to strengthenThe name of Germanyโs beleaguered chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was not on the ballot on Sunday, as his home state of B…
Germanyโs Scholz risks Bidenโs fate
If the chancellor’s SPD party loses a crucial regional election to the far right on Sunday, it could lead to his ouster from the top spot.
Germanyโs rude economic awakeningย
After a spate of bad news involving giants like Volkswagen and Intel, the mood in Germany has turned gloomy.
Meet the commissioners: Class of 2024
Everything you need to know about Ursula von der Leyen’s team for her second term.
Unease as Russia-friendly โqueen of the electionsโ aims for more German poll success
Some see Sahra Wagenknechtโs brand of โleft conservatismโ as a bulwark against AfD but others see reasons to be warySahra Wagenknecht is not even on the ballot in the upcoming state election in Brandenburg. But her face is plastered on billboards acros…
Germanyโs Scholz gets tough on border in bid to save political future
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s move to establish new border controls risks generating an EU rift.
Radical left and radical right have become indistinguishable
For as long as the center fails to make its case in a way that galvanizes, there will be many more like Sahra Wagenknecht.
Why the far-right AfD has been so successful in Germany โย video explainer
The far-right, anti-immigration Alternative fรผr Deutschland (AfD) is riding a populist wave across Europeโs largest economy. According to polls conducted this month, the AfD has become the strongest party in Thuringia, a former state of the communist G…
Volkswagenโs week from hell risks getting worse
The carmaker’s executives are locked in a stalemate with workers as the company’s future hangs in the balance.
Putin โwinsโ in eastern Germany
A post-election debate over U.S. missiles and military aid for Ukraine is hampering coalition building in Germany’s east.
Deutsche Bank chief tells Germans: Work longer and harder
CEO adds that political instability could hurt Germany’s appeal as an investment destination.
EU leaders may envy Starmerโs stable majority โ Brexit’s part in it less so | Rafael Behr
Britain has already had its populist reckoning, in 2016. European states can take few lessons from our current calmTwo summers ago, when the Conservatives had just defenestrated Boris Johnson and were rallying around Liz Truss as his successor, there w…
Germany grapples with far-right surge as AfD wins state election
The far-right AfD party alone won a third of the votes in two eastern German states on Sunday, as residents of Thuringia and Saxony begin to take stock of the results.
Europe reels from far-right victory in eastern Germany elections
Will the results from Saxony and Thuringia influence Germany’s energy transition and support for Ukraine?
Thereโs only one way to keep Germanyโs far-right AfD at bay. Address the concerns it exploits | Katja Hoyer
There are good reasons to place a political firewall around the extremists. But mainstream parties must also address the electorateโs loss of trustโWeโre all waiting with bated breath. This is a fateful election,โ a friend from Leipzig told me on Sunda…
Tuesday briefing: Why the far rightโs success in German state elections canโt be written off as a local phenomenon any more
In todayโs newsletter: Alternative fรผr Deutschland have deployed Nazi rhetoric throughout their rise โ and they are pulling the mainstream further to the rightโข Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. For the first time since …
Far-right election success pushes Germany towards political instability
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured one-third of the vote in East Germanyโs elections on Sunday, prompting parties across the political spectrum to rule out coalitions with the extremist group. However, enforcing a domestic cordon sanit…
Liberal Europe shocked about far-right election win in eastern German Bundeslรคnder
Regional parlaments in Germany have no foreign policy competence and limited influence on national energy policy. But will the results from Saxony and Thuringia influence Germany’s energy transition and its support for Ukraine?
AfDโs success in German elections piles pressure on a fragmented EU
The centre โmay be holdingโ but if the far right continues to win elections, the European project faces a rocky few yearsAlternative fรผr Deutschlandโs stunning success in Germanyโs regional elections was described as โbitterโ and โworryingโ by chancell…
Radical turn? East Germans reject mainstream parties as far-right surges
Thuringia may represent just two percent of Germanyโs population, but the eastern region is hardly an outlier.ย The far-right finishing first in Sundayโs regional elections while also surging in nearby Saxony. True, the AfD, whose lead candidate Bjorn …
AfD tells Scholz to ‘pack up bags’ after ‘wake-up call’ German elections โ video
The leader of the Alternative fรผr Deutschland (AfD) party told Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to ‘pack his bags and make room’ after victories in state elections. The far right’s first victory in a German state election in the postwar era must be a…
The Guardian view on the rise of AfD: winning an election wonโt mean it wins power | Editorial
The emergence of the far right as a political force in eastern Germany is a concern for Europeโs biggest economyOn Sunday, Alternative fรผr Deutschland (AfD) earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first far-right party to win a German state elec…
Anti-immigration leftists have potential to upend German political scene
State election results for Sahra Wagenknecht Allianz mean Russia-leaning populists could play decisive roleIt was, Sahra Wagenknecht declared on the social media platform X on Sunday, โa historic resultโ achieved from almost a standing start. Within ei…
Local German elections cause European stir
The recent electoral success of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony has sparked a range of reactions from politicians across the European Union.
5 takeaways from Germanyโs eastern elections
The far-right Alternative of Germany just keeps rising despite efforts to stop it.
German Chancellor Scholz calls on parties to isolate far right
Following regional elections in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony, in which the far-right AfD party won over 30% of votes, politicians from both the right and left have called to exclude it from governing coalitions.
โA dark day for Germany is a dark day for Europeโ: liberals react to far right success in German state election โ Europe live
Election results in Germany causes consternation across Europe as German chancellor says preliminary results in Thuringia are โbitterโHereโs the updated seat distribution in Saxony.The state election commission corrected the preliminary results. Contin…
The worrying rise of Germany’s far right
The AfD’s surge in Thuringia and Saxony is a major setback for Berlin’s ruling coalition. Political leaders on the right and left cannot afford to let a party with a racist, nationalistic worldview flourish further.
AfD’s historic win: Four key takeaways from eastern Germany’s pivotal state elections
Here’s a quick roundup of the four main things we learned from this weekend’s elections in Saxony and Thuringia.
Germany’s far-right AfD celebrates landmark win in regional vote
Germany’s far-right AfD was Monday celebrating a landmark win in a regional vote, sending a shot across the bows of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government a year ahead of national elections. The anti-immigration party topped the polls for the first time …
Regional elections in Germany: far right in the lead, Olaf Scholz’s coalition even more fragile
The AfD party came out on top in Thuringia, a first for a German far-right party since WWII, and was a close second in Saxony. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD dropped, while his Green and Liberal Democrat allies collapsed. It is a serious setback for Scho…
‘Damaging Germany’: Scholz expresses worry after success of far right in regional elections
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed concern after the far-rightย Alternative for Germany (AfD) topped the polls for the first time ever in the former East German state of Thuringia, and came a close second place behind the conservatives in Saxony, …
East German states face tough talks to keep far-right out of governments
Promising to uphold the โfirewallโ against the far-right AfD, the conservative CDU faces difficult coalition talks after state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, where it will be forced to work with left-wing newcomer BSW to form a majority coalition.
Success of far-right AfD shows east and west Germany are drifting further apart
Likely win in Thuringia and second place in Saxony highlight how eastern voters are asserting their own political identityGerman far-right party AfD poised for state election victory in eastAfter the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, the former West G…
German far-right party AfD poised for state election victory in east
Alternative fรผr Deutschland leader speaks of โhistoric successโ of top place in Thuringia and second in SaxonyA far-right party became the biggest force in a German state parliament for the first time since the second world war, exit polls showed on Su…
German far right set for first major electoral victory since World War II
The far-right Alternative for Germany appeared set to win an election in the eastern German state of Thuringia and is running a close second in Saxony, according to initial forecasts.
Far-right AfD wins election in East German state of Thuringia: Exit polls
The far-right AfD party won the state elections in the eastern German state of Thuringia with 30.5% of the vote on Sunday (1 September), according to exit polls, marking the party’s first win in a state election.
Exit polls: far-right AfD ahead of rivals in Thuringia and on course for major gains in Saxony
Exit polls: far-right AfD ahead of rivals in Thuringia, the first time for a German far-right party since 1945, and on course for major gains in Saxony.
Germans vote in state elections set to hand victory to far right
Voters in two former East German states began casting ballots Sunday in elections expected to deal a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government and deliver big gains for the far-right AfD. Opinion polls have the anti-immigration Alternative for Germa…
German elections live: Far right leads in Thuringia exit poll, centre-right ahead in Saxony
Exit polls show strong performance for far-right Alternative fรผr Deutschland in both German state electionsThe centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has taken a narrow lead in Saxony, with the far right Alternative fรผr Deutschland following clo…
‘The mistake made by the parties that prospered in West Germany for decades was to believe that they could import their model, unchanged, to the former East’
As regional elections in Thuringia and Saxony get underway on Sunday, author Steffen Mau examines the rise of the far right in the former GDR.
Far-right party looking to make gains in 2 state elections in eastern Germany
Germans are casting their votes on Sunday in Saxony and Thuringia, in the east of the country, in an election that could see the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) become the strongest party for the first time and produce painful results for the u…
Nerves rise over AfD threat as state elections in eastern Germany begin
With voters rejecting mainstream politics, many expect a disastrous results outcome for Olaf Scholzโs coalitionVoters in two eastern German states are about to go to the polls in elections that could see the far-right Alternative fรผr Deutschland (AfD) …
Far-right AfD eyes big gains in German elections
The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party is expected to perform strongly in Saxony and Thuringia.