AfD Surges to 42% Ahead of Saxony-Anhalt Vote
A new Insa poll published on 10 August puts the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) at a record 42% in Saxony-Anhalt, 20 points ahead of the governing CDU on 22%, one month before the 6 September state election. Die Linke stands at 13%, SPD at 6%, with BSW, Greens and FDP hovering near or below the 5% threshold. Analysts note this could deliver the AfD its strongest state result ever and potentially an outright majority of seats if smaller parties fail to enter parliament.
Saxony-Anhalt has been run by a CDU-SPD-FDP coalition. The poll reflects broader eastern German discontent with establishment handling of migration, economic competitiveness, energy prices and industrial decline. AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund has outlined a 100-day programme featuring tougher deportations, asylum welfare changes, NGO funding cuts and public broadcasting reforms. Under state rules, a simple majority suffices in the third round of prime ministerial voting, raising the possibility of AfD leadership via BSW abstentions; BSW has prioritised ending the Brandmauer against AfD cooperation. CDU faces pressure to seek Die Linke backing to block this.
Key tensions centre on whether mainstream parties can maintain the cordon sanitaire without alienating voters further, and whether an AfD breakthrough would force national recalibration of migration and economic policy. Open questions include the durability of the lead, potential post-election coalitions, and spillover effects on federal politics amid ongoing eastern discontent.
Sources: The European Conservative.
Italy Suspends Schengen with Spain as Leaders Demand Tougher EU Borders
Italy suspended passport-free travel with Spain from 31 July to 15 August, prompting Spanish retaliatory airport checks; France added controls. The move followed the late-July entry of around 72,000 people into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. Twenty-two EU states, led by Italy and Denmark, demanded an emergency meeting and criticised Spanish “pull factors” including a large regularisation of irregular migrants. On 10 August, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and Danish PM Mette Frederiksen issued a joint statement rejecting uncontrolled immigration, linking tighter returns (including third-country hubs) to defence of Europe’s Christian cultural heritage and values.
Domestic Italian politics is a driver: Meloni’s Brothers of Italy has slipped in polls ahead of a possible 2027 election, with a new “remigration” party gaining. The Schengen suspensions have mainly produced queues rather than blocking secondary movements, as Ceuta-mainland Spain is outside Schengen and most entrants reportedly returned. Germany has threatened returns to first-entry states. The EU’s Migration Pact faces fresh strain.
Tensions arise between free-movement ideals and national border control amid repeated crises, left-right convergence on cultural conditions for settlement, and the gap between symbolic checks and structural enforcement. Open questions include whether temporary suspensions become permanent, how far “values” tests will be operationalised, and the impact on Schengen’s viability as elections approach across multiple member states.
Sources: Spiked, The European Conservative.