A nationalist, anti-immigration party is on course to win state elections in the German city of Magdeburg, marking what would be the first time such a force has taken power in Germany since the Nazi era ended in 1945. Final polls put Alternative for Germany (AfD) on 41 per cent in Saxony-Anhalt, and the party's rise reflects a broader shift across Europe, where more than half of the EU's 27 member states are now governed or influenced by right-wing, anti-immigration parties.

Analysts trace AfD's surge to the 2015 decision by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel to admit roughly 1.3 million migrants, many fleeing Syria's war, under her "We can do it" policy; the AfD, founded 13 years ago as a fringe outfit, now holds 152 of 630 Bundestag seats and leads national polls. Its support has been reinforced by local tragedies, including a 2016 gang rape by three Afghan men and a 2024 Christmas market car attack in Magdeburg that killed six people, including a child. Mainstream parties, notably Angela Merkel's former CDU, are attempting a "firewall" strategy of refusing to cooperate with the AfD, but experts doubt this will prevent the party from gaining power, with younger voters particularly drawn to its social media messaging and calls to deport illegal migrants.