Following the AfD's near-44% result in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, our Executive Director Oliver Hartwich joined Katie Bradford on Ryan Bridges TODAY to unpack what it means for German and European politics.

He noted the result reflects a genuine national trend, not just an eastern German quirk, the AfD is currently polling around 29% nationally, well ahead of the CDU and SPD, as Germany's mainstream parties lose ground. Hartwich also flagged a troubling pattern: the AfD, alongside other pro-Kremlin parties, has echoed Russian narratives on Ukraine, and in Saxony-Anhalt parties sympathetic to Moscow collectively topped 58% of the vote, raising concerns about future state control over police, security services, and support for NATO allies. He pointed to France's 2027 presidential election as the next major test of this populist wave in Europe.