The Free Press · October 2026 · By James Kirchick
AfD Wins 44 Percent in Saxony-Anhalt Provincial Election
- Germany's AfD won 44 percent of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt and 38 percent in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in recent provincial elections.
- Current polls place the AfD ahead in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state; nationwide it stands at 28 percent, 8 points ahead of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (Politico).
- In the UK, Nigel Farage's Reform led national opinion polls for 15 months until the ruling Labour Party replaced its prime minister in July.
Election and polling figures as cited in the original report, via Politico and linked polls. Original headline: "The Radical Right Won't Save Europe".
Removed: the author's judgments ("grave mistake," "worse than the disease"), the fascism framing debate, and any prediction about future government roles.