The far right’s political victory in Germany is great news for Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner before talks in Moscow on Sept. 5. | Sputnik / via AFP-JIJI

Sep 11, 2026

To understand the geopolitical importance of this month’s election breakthrough for Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the small state of Saxony-Anhalt, pay attention to the apparently unrelated commentary from the Kremlin that emerged around it.

On Sunday, Germany’s hard-right populist party won with 44% of the vote, just shy of the majority needed to run the state on its own. Like many of its ideological counterparts across Europe, the AfD is pro-Russia, believing it shares a common enemy with Moscow in Europe’s liberal establishment. These parties are natural allies for Moscow as it tries to secure its best hope for winning the Ukraine war: persuading Europeans to halt the military and financial support that sustains Kyiv’s defense.

The most compelling argument to achieve this goal involves stoke fears among European voters that their governments, far from halting a threat from the east by backing Ukraine, are instead inviting war with a nuclear superpower.

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