Far-right AfD party takes big lead in regional German election

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has taken a strong lead in a regional election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. According to initial projections, the AfD is set to win 44.5% of the vote, far ahead of the conservative CDU on 18.5%. The party's leader in the state, Ulrich Siegmund, has refused to govern with any other party.

It is unclear if the AfD will be able to form a government, as it will depend on which smaller parties meet the 5% threshold to enter the state parliament. If one of the smaller parties fails to meet this threshold, the AfD's chances of a majority increase. The AfD has hailed the result as a "historic outcome".

The election is seen as a barometer for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government, which has tried to chip away at the AfD's popularity. The AfD is assessed by domestic intelligence as "far-right extremist", a classification rejected by Siegmund. Saxony-Anhalt has a population of 2.1 million.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBC News, BBC News, CNBC, NPR, Haaretz — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.