<
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/15/germany-vote-afd-politics-elections-dictatorship>
"The fear that a fascist, far-right movement would rise to power again in
Germany has been with me since my youth. On 6 September, the far-right,
anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won a landslide
in Saxony-Anhalt, becoming the biggest party in the state parliament, with a
shocking 44% of the vote, on a record turnout. If it finds a way to power it
will be the first far-right party to govern a German state since the Nazi era.
The night before the vote, I sent a message to a friend, who, like myself, has
an East German background. Was she as worried, scared even, about the vote as I
was, I asked. I’d fallen into a loop for days, scrolling videos, reels,
reports, interviews done on the ground. And I knew these AfD voters. They could
have been relatives, friends of my parents, old teachers, former schoolmates.
Why were they saying such incoherent stuff?
I did not grow up in Saxony-Anhalt, but in Saxony – a sibling eastern German
state, not entirely the same but similar in many core aspects. When I went to
high school in Leipzig in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the presence of
rightwing extremists was part of my coming-of-age experience. Every Friday
night, you felt the fear that neo-Nazis would be waiting outside the clubs, the
bars, the tram stops, fists clenched or baseball bats in hand. Every 1 May was
a flashpoint when neo-Nazis were allowed to march through the city-centre. And
still, Saxony’s first prime minister after reunification, Kurt Biedenkopf – a
West German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician and a close ally of
Helmut Kohl – promised, stoically, throughout his 12 years in office: “Saxony
is immune to rightwing extremism.”
By 2004, a year before I graduated, the far-right National Democratic party
(NPD) had entered the Saxon state parliament for the first time, with 9.2% of
the vote. In 2005, I left Saxony and moved to Berlin. One reason was the
unbearable, dangerous presence of neo-Nazis and rightwing extremists. Many
peers did the same, because it was clear that the blooming landscapes that
Kohl, the German chancellor in charge of reunification, had confidently
promised in 1990 weren’t going to materialise.
Instead, rightwing extremism has grown steadily in eastern Germany ever since.
Only the names have changed – from NPD, to Pegida (the anti-migrant protest
movement launched in 2014), to AfD. I am terrified, if not surprised. Because
fascist structures, left unchecked, will always keep going.
But this result is also a function of the deeply troubled relationship between
the former East and West Germany."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
