In Germany, the far-right AfD is taking advantage of Merz's downfall to aim for a historic victory

While German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's popularity is declining, the far-right Alternative for Germany party continues its advance and now hopes to conquer the leadership of a German state for the first time.

In the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, a rising star in the AfD at 35, is actively campaigning for the regional elections scheduled for September. National polls currently place his party up to seven points ahead of Friedrich Merz's conservatives.

Even before the official launch of his campaign, Siegmund is holding numerous "citizen dialogues" in several cities in eastern Germany to appeal to an electorate increasingly dissatisfied with traditional parties. At a rally in Halberstadt, he stated that Germans want to regain "a safe and independent Germany."

This surge in support for the AfD reflects a broader trend observed in several European countries, where traditional parties are losing ground to populist and nationalist movements. In Germany, discontent related to the economy, immigration, and the cost of living is fueling the rise of the far right.

Saxony-Anhalt could thus become the first German state led by a minister-president from the AfD, a scenario that deeply worries centrist parties and defenders of the political order established since the post-war period.

In Halberstadt, a city in the former East Germany marked by its historical heritage but also by the economic transformations of recent decades, several voters interviewed by Reuters expressed their weariness with traditional parties and their desire for "something for Germans".

The rise of the AfD represents a major challenge for Friedrich Merz, who is trying to contain the erosion of support for conservatives as the far right establishes itself permanently at the center of German political debate.