Embracing positions extolled by the Kremlin, the Alternative for Germany party may govern for the first time in a German state.

By James Mackenzie BERLIN, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The far-right AfD's triumph in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt marks a defeat for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and sends a warning to other European leaders battling the same mixture of slow growth and disillusion with mainstream politics.

Saxony-Anhalt may well become the first German state to be led by a radical right government since the second world war. But the context is important. Saxony-Anhalt is a small state made up of 1.7 million voters, just 2.5% of the German electorate. As such, its political landscape should not be taken as representative of the country as a whole.

A far-right government in Saxony-Anhalt cannot do much to affect German policy,” says Timo Lochocki, a professor of public policy at the Quadriga University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. “What the a f d needs is for the centrist parties to turn to in-fighting,

Germany’s Defense Ministry is considering blocking access of a highly sensitive wartime crisis-response plan to the state premier’s office in Saxony-Anhalt if the far right takes power in the eastern region.

The results of Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt state election on September 6 were far worse than feared for the country’s mainstream political parties. The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) came close to winning a majority of votes, with 43.8%.

The AfD may not end up controlling Germany's Saxony-Anhalt state despite a landslide election victory, but the far-right party's "dream result" sends a clear message.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) may not have won the supermajority it sought in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on Sunday, but the far-right party did take another giant step toward power in a country whose postwar democracy was designed to prevent the return of right-wing extremism.