Germany's far-right AfD and the leftist BSW have joined forces in Saxony-Anhalt to pass a symbolic motion calling for an end to Berlin's military aid to Ukraine, a rare cross-party alliance that has rattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government and put the far-right's growing grip on the eastern German state on full display.
On Wednesday, lawmakers from Alternative for Germany and the small Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) used their combined majority in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament to adopt a resolution demanding an end to weapons deliveries and financial support for Kyiv, along with the lifting of economic sanctions against Russia. The motion declares the West's sanctions policy a failure and urges the state government to push for diplomacy through the Bundesrat, Germany's upper legislative chamber.
Symbolic Vote, Serious Signal
The resolution has no practical effect: under Germany's constitution, state parliaments have no say over foreign policy, and the federal government in Berlin controls military aid. Merz's government is Europe's biggest supplier of military aid to Kyiv and has repeatedly restated its support.
The timing was pointed. The motion passed on the opening day of a trial in Hamburg of a Ukrainian former military officer charged with blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipeline that once carried Russian gas to Germany. The government in Kyiv has denied any involvement in the pipeline's destruction.
Even so, the vote carried weight as a political signal. Ukraine's ambassador to Germany slammed the motion as a "peak of absurdity," while other parliamentary groups in the Landtag were simply outvoted.
The Saxony-Anhalt Power Play
The motion landed just weeks after the AfD's biggest electoral victory ever. In the September 6 state election, the party took 43.8 percent of the vote and 39 of the 83 seats in Saxony-Anhalt's Landtag — more than double its previous result — falling just three seats short of an absolute majority. The once-dominant CDU collapsed to 17.2 percent, while the newly formed BSW won 5.3 percent and five seats. Turnout hit a record 77.8 percent.
AfD state leader Ulrich Siegmund has said he intends to seek formal confirmation as state premier by the end of the year. Most other parties have ruled out any coalition with the AfD under the so-called "firewall" policy that aims to isolate the party — but cracks are showing. In the week's speaker ballot, AfD candidate Tobias Rausch won 48 votes, four more than the combined seat total of the AfD and BSW, sparking speculation that some mainstream lawmakers secretly broke ranks.
Why the Far Right and the Left Found Common Ground
The BSW broke away from the far-left Linke party, but it shares with the AfD a desire to restore ties with Moscow and stem immigration. The BSW says it does not want a formal coalition with the AfD — yet it is openly willing to work with the party through shifting majorities.
"The firewall has failed," party founder Sahra Wagenknecht told the news portal t-online. "We will shape policy through shifting majorities and push through as many BSW positions as possible."
The arrangement has sent shockwaves through Berlin. Merz has ruled out any arrangement with the AfD, and CDU deputy leader Karin Prien warned that accommodation could open divisions that might "jeopardise the very existence of the entire party." The issue was due to dominate a CDU leadership meeting, with the AfD polling at nearly a third of the vote nationwide.
What It Means
The Saxony-Anhalt motion cannot stop a single weapons delivery to Ukraine. But it is a landmark moment: Germany's far right and a left-wing party have converted their parliamentary arithmetic into a joint policy victory — a working preview of how the AfD could govern despite the firewall. Whether that model stays confined to one eastern state is now the question haunting Berlin.
Watch: WELT News report on the AfD-BSW joint motion in Saxony-Anhalt's parliament — a video news segment covering the motion to end German aid to Ukraine and lift Russia sanctions, the "peak of absurdity" reaction from Ukraine's ambassador, and why the vote carries no binding force over federal foreign policy.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Long Road Ahead B (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0