Far-right AfD set for historic win in German state election, exit polls show

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is on track to win a significant victory in the state election of Saxony-Anhalt, with exit polls suggesting it will secure around 44-44.5% of the vote. This would put it far ahead of its mainstream rivals, including the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) which is projected to win 18.5% of the vote, according to the BBC World.

If the AfD is able to form a government, it would be the first far-right party to lead a German state since World War II. The party's leader in the state, Ulrich Siegmund, has stated that he has won a mandate to govern and has refused to rule out governing with other parties. However, it is unclear whether the AfD will have enough seats to govern alone, with some polls suggesting it will need to form a coalition with other parties.

The outcome of the election will depend on whether smaller parties are able to secure more than 5% of the vote, which would allow them to enter the state parliament. According to Politico EU, the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance party (BSW) is close to the 5% threshold and has indicated that it would be willing to cooperate with the AfD.

Brief written by urgent.news from Haaretz, BBC World, Euronews, Politico EU — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.