Saxony-Anhalt is at a turning point. The state parliamentary election in September 2026 will not only decide who governs the eastern German state in the future, it will demonstrate whether the much-vaunted political “firewall” holds the far right or whether the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) will co-govern for the first time. Will it be possible to oppose the rightward drift in German society with solidarity-based, antifascist praxis and prevent a right-wing government?
Anika Taschke is deputy head of the Centre for Social Analysis and Political Education and senior advisor for neo-Nazism at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
The possible scenarios for the state election depend not only on Die Linke’s electoral results but also on the Christian Democrats’ (CDU) strategic behaviour — at both the federal and state level. Equally important are the social and media discourses that will shape the political climate between now and September 2026.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD is long past being a mere protest party. In the 2021 state election it became the second-strongest force with 20.8 percent. In local elections in 2024, it was the strongest party in many places, winning seats in almost every municipal body. The question is no longer whether the AfD will be normalized, but how far that process has already advanced and what can be done to counter it.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD benefits from being systematically embedded in local structures, a radicalized base, and collaboration with other far-right actors. Societal fascization in the state is not merely a result of poor political communication but also an expression of an authoritarian project from below — legitimized through votes, reinforced by discursive shifts, and accompanied by violence.
Fascization poses strategic challenges for the broader Left as well as Die Linke. Yet Die Linke’s role could be decisive as part of a cross-party bloc against the AfD, or as the militant centre of an antifascist, solidarity-based counterforce. This article outlines fascization scenarios in Saxony-Anhalt, illuminates the roles of the AfD, CDU, and right-wing networks, and examines how an antifascist Left can mobilize effectively.
The AfD and the Far Right in Saxony-Anhalt
The AfD is particularly radical in Saxony-Anhalt. Its leading figures, such as Martin Reichardt or Ulrich Siegmund, are considered closely connected to the ethnonationalist Flügel (“the Wing”), which was formally dissolved but continues to operate in practice. The state party is increasingly in lockstep with its leader Björn Höcke’s authoritarian project, in which parliamentary mandates are merely a means to an end: they serve the dismantling of democratic institutions.
The AfD’s electoral successes in Saxony-Anhalt demonstrate that its long-term strategies have paid off. At the municipal level, the AfD is working to take over structures — not just symbolically but also in terms of power politics. It chairs committees, influences municipal budgets, and restricts funding programmes for anti-racism, diversity initiatives, or socio-cultural projects. Simultaneously, the party is deeply intertwined with extra-parliamentary right-wing actors. The Identitarian Movement (Identitäre Bewegung, IB) briefly operated a right-wing house project in Halle (Saale). Investigations into a villa rental in Schkopau in 2024 suggest that right-wing networks continue to maintain meeting places and cadre schools in the state. The right-wing network Ein Prozent also organizes trainings, fundraising, and propaganda campaigns, often with overlapping personnel with the AfD.
The fight against fascization begins in school conferences, youth welfare committees, and neighbourhood assemblies. A Left that abandons these spaces loses influence and cedes the realities of many lives to the Right.
Student fraternities, such as Germania Halle zu Leipzig, also maintain close contact with the parliamentary Right. Future cadres receive ideological training there as well. There is also right-wing media, such as the magazine Compact, which purposefully spreads conspiracy narratives, anti-LGBQT+ hate speech, and racist content. Many actors in the scene also run local alternative blogs or Telegram channels to establish counter-public spheres — unfiltered, anonymous, and aggressive. In towns such as Burg or Magdeburg or in the Harz region, there are conventional neo-Nazi groups that organize marches, engage in paramilitary training, and repeatedly make headlines with attacks on political opponents or refugee accommodations.
The role of right-wing influencers, digital activists, and so-called Heimatblogger (homeland bloggers) should not be underestimated. They denounce authorities or seek to expose what they call gender ideology in schools, amplifying the AfD’s narrative of an oppressed, patriotic population defending itself against elites, migration, and modernity.
What clearly emerges from this complex interplay is that the AfD is not a democratic competitor, but the parliamentary arm of an authoritarian project. Societal fascization in Saxony-Anhalt is the result of this interlinking of institutional politics, extra-parliamentary mobilization, and digital propaganda. This analysis forms the basis for the following scenarios of fascization and considerations of what an antifascist Left must mobilize to counteract.
Civil Society Resistance and “Democratic Cores”
In our text Hält die Brandmauer?, Steven Hummel and I emphasized that normalizing the AfD and its policies begins primarily at the municipal level. There, where it can be found in district offices, on building committees, or on school boards, the structure of politics itself changes. Not only are funding programmes cut and partnerships with democratic civil society terminated, but a climate is created that systematically marginalizes critical voices. A right-wing normalcy is often established not through spectacular decisions, but via daily symbolic demonstrations of power: deliberately ignoring LGBQT+ concerns, sabotaging integration projects, or putting authoritarian figures in charge of local cultural policy.
Municipal spaces largely determine how resistant a society can be. Silence enables right-wing power politics, whereas organizing makes counter-positioning possible. The fight against fascization begins in school conferences, youth welfare committees, and neighbourhood assemblies. A Left that abandons these spaces loses influence and cedes the realities of many lives to the Right.
Despite repressive developments, there are sites of resistance — democratic kernels, as David Begrich calls them, such as antifascist youth centres, migrant self-organization, and municipal alliances against the Right. In Halle, Dessau, Magdeburg, Stendal, or rural regions like the Altmark, spaces of solidarity-based coexistence are emerging. These initiatives need not only protection but also political and material support from a militant left. Antifascism thrives where concrete aid is mobilized, educational work is organized, and networks of solidarity are established. These are not defensive retreats — they are democratic spaces that represent an alternative society.
Strategic Constellations: What Awaits Saxony-Anhalt in 2026?
According to a Infratest dimap poll conducted in September 2025, the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt is now clearly in the lead with 39 percent. The CDU is next with only 27 percent, while the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) lag far behind at 7 and 6 percent, respectively. The Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP), both polling 3 percent, risk failing to win enough votes to enter the state parliament. Die Linke is currently the third-strongest force with 13 percent.
Antifascist politics is not about being as palatable as possible, but about envisioning a society that leaves no one behind.
This gives rise to several strategic scenarios:
Black-Blue: The Authoritarian Option
A coalition of the CDU and the AfD could theoretically command a majority. Publicly, the CDU rejects this option, but local cooperation is already happening. The districts of Burgenland, Wittenberg, and Mansfeld-Südharz demonstrate how the CDU is seeking to join forces with the far right under the guise of political pragmatism. A coalition like this would mark the end of the firewall and give authoritarian politics a massive boost.
Grand Coalition: The Sluggish Alliance
A repeat of the Grand Coalition (CDU-SPD), potentially expanded to include the Greens, is currently not mathematically possible. If it nevertheless materializes, the AfD could present itself as the strongest opposition force and as a victim. Such an alliance risks political paralysis and threatens to further alienate voters through technocratic crisis management. It remains to be seen whether it would last until the next election or whether the AfD would take the helm early.
CDU, SPD, BSW: Precarious Stability
A coalition of, say, CDU, SPD, and BSW could reach just under 50 percent and form a minority government relying on shifting majorities. Political stability would be on shaky ground — the AfD could exploit its opposition role in both populist and strategic terms. Whether the CDU and BSW would enter a possible coalition remains uncertain. What was rejected in Brandenburg would have to be reassessed. If such a government were reliant on the “tacit tolerance” of the AfD, then distancing might officially remain, but in practical terms the taboo would be broken.
While Minister President Reiner Haseloff and his designated successor Sven Schulze continue to oppose “every kind of extremism”, the Harz district branch of the CDU has already unanimously passed a resolution in favour of cooperation with the AfD. At a meeting of right-wing actors in Hungary, CDU MP Saskia Ludwig also hinted that it is still too early for a coalition with the AfD, as conservative majorities exist only in eastern Germany. This shows that strategic preparations have been underway for some time. Bence Bauer, formerly a leading figure at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, argued at the same meeting that cooperation with the AfD is in the CDU’s own interest.
A glance at other countries is enough to know that this approach would also weaken the conservatives. The bottom line is that even indirect support from the AfD in individual cases would contribute to parliamentary normalization and strengthen right-wing positions.
BSW: Dilemma and Opportunity
Die Linke’s stance towards the BSW also deserves to be clearly defined. Leading BSW members — above all Wagenknecht herself — have repeatedly criticized the fact that the party has distanced itself from the AfD. This stance, combined with reports of talks between BSW and AfD representatives, demonstrates that the BSW operates in programmatic proximity to authoritarian populism. Its participation in the Brandenburg state government underscores this: domestic policy is dominated by law-and-order rhetoric, a hardline migration policy, and a break with solidarity-based social policy.
What is needed is not a technical bloc against the Right but a political pole that confronts the roots of fascization.
But it is precisely the fact that many former leftists are disillusioned with the BSW’s authoritarian course that presents a new opportunity. A clearly positioned, antifascist Left can offer them a political home if it demonstrates principled stances and integrates social and anti-racist policy.
Die Linke in the Opposition: An Antifascist Corrective
The most likely role for Die Linke is that of the opposition. But one need not be powerless in this role. A left that sets a clear course can be a safe haven while simultaneously raising awareness and serving as an alliance partner — to anyone affected by right-wing politics.
Die Linke as an Antifascist Pole
Each of these constellations poses challenges for antifascist strategy. Die Linke has to make it clear that the goal is not to “obstruct the AfD” but to strengthen those who are suffering under fascization and authoritarian politics. Only a clearly social and anti-racist orientation can give Die Linke an independent role in this complex situation. This can be summarized as follows:
- Principle over tactics: Die Linke must not get caught up in debates about power strategies. The focus is not on governability but on the capacity to mobilize. Anyone who wants to be an antifascist has to risk conflict. This means no cooperation with the AfD, but also no coalitions with a CDU that adopts right-wing discourse.
- Integrate social issues and anti-racism: The AfD is not a party of regular people. It opposes the minimum wage, social transfers, and equality measures. Its social rhetoric is nationalist, exclusionary, and authoritarian. A left-wing response must combine class politics and anti-racism. It must be concrete: cap rents, combat energy poverty, enforce secure residence permits, and valorize care work. Genuine social policy necessarily means combating authoritarianism.
- Create safe spaces and link struggles: Die Linke has to be present where people are under attack: in LGBQT+ centres, migrant communities, and rural areas. It must organize concrete solidarity — with victims of right-wing violence, civil society, and anti-racist and antifascist groups. Antifascism is not just verbiage in a parliamentary speech, it is a practice.
- Be local and approachable: The time leading up to the election must be used to show presence and engage in dialogue at eye level. Be where the people are — not only at market stalls, but at the garden fence or right at the front door. Stay approachable and attentive to people’s concerns.
- Support the movement, be the movement: Die Linke must not limit itself to party politics. It should be a countervailing social force: in trade unions, schools, neighbourhoods, and social centres. A strong left emerges not in the plenary hall, but through grassroots organizing. Political education, networking, a willingness to engage in conflict, and solidarity are the key tools in this endeavour.
- Do not govern at any cost: Participation in a government with the CDU — even as a “lesser evil” — would be politically and morally disastrous. What is needed is not a technical bloc against the Right but a political pole that confronts the roots of fascization. Confronting the right means challenging capitalism, racism, and patriarchal violence in society.
- Set agendas: The fact that polls identify “migration” as the “most pressing concern” in Saxony-Anhalt has little to do with reality on the ground. Media coverage and constant discussion of migration as a problem have shaped this perception. Die Linke has to address other issues instead, turning away from incitement against benefit recipients and migrants and towards social matters, infrastructure, and education.
Antifascism Is Praxis, Not (Just) Rhetoric
Antifascism is more than saying no to the AfD, it is a political benchmark. Many will argue that change requires governing, but governing alone does not guarantee effectiveness. A strong Die Linke in 2026 will define itself not through coalition options, but through a clear stance, reliability on the side of marginalized groups, credibility, and courage to confront the roots of fascization. The 2026 state election in Saxony-Anhalt will measure how deep this process reaches.
The antifascist Left can and must serve as both a firewall and a safe space. Antifascist politics is not about being as palatable as possible, but about envisioning a society that leaves no one behind and fighting alongside the people affected in support of the rights of everyone who suffers from right-wing violence, social exclusion, and state repression.
This article first appeared in LuXemburg. Translated by Diego Otero and Joseph Keady for Gegensatz Translation Collective.