By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
Ulrich Siegmund got on X Sunday night and thanked Elon Musk.
"For your support and for your clear and highly important perspective on the political developments of our time," the Alternative für Deutschland's lead candidate wrote, adding he'd welcome "strong and constructive cooperation" going forward. He was replying to Musk, who'd posted "Well done!" in German to AfD co-founder Alice Weidel after exit polls showed the party more than doubling its support in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, according to the Guardian. Both posts are quoted here as reported by the Guardian from the exchange on X; we have not independently pulled the original posts, so treat the wording as the Guardian's transcription rather than our own verification.
The AfD did not secure an outright majority, leaving open what happens next. But the party appears on the brink of becoming the first far-right movement to hold power in a German state since the end of World War II — a milestone that has rattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government and, by the BBC's account, sent alarm through Brussels and Europe's traditional parties.
BBC Europe editor Katya Adler described the result as ringing "alarm bells" for the EU. In Paris, according to the Guardian's reporting, a French minister was blunter, calling the outcome a "serious moment" for Europe and warning, "We cannot forget our history." The Guardian's own account did not name the minister or specify their portfolio; we could not independently confirm the name from the material available. That is a gap, and readers should weigh the quote accordingly — an unnamed official's warning carries less evidentiary weight than a named one's, even when the newspaper reporting it is credible.
Merz is expected to respond to the result, though what leverage Berlin has over a state-level win is limited. The AfD's courtship of Musk — the world's richest man, who has previously waded into European politics — adds an unusual transatlantic thread to a story that is, at bottom, about German voters in a single eastern state and what their choice signals for the rest of the country.
What happens in Saxony-Anhalt's coalition talks in the coming weeks will show whether "historic" becomes "lasting." For now, the numbers are the numbers: a doubling of support, a party normalized further, and a chancellor who has to say something about it.
— Compiled from reporting by the Guardian and BBC World.
FILED FROM SOMEWHERE WITH BAD COFFEE -
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."