Germany's far-right AfD says 'democracy demands' parties work with them after state election win

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is "very, very close" to taking power, its deputy parliamentary leader has told the BBC, after a historic victory in elections for the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Sunday's preliminary results show it fell three seats short of an outright majority, with 43.8% of the vote. It is now seeking support from other parties or individuals in order to govern.

While most German political parties refuse to work with the AfD, Beatrix von Storch called for its opponents to enter talks and said: "You cannot say I do not accept the vote of the people".

No far-right party has controlled a German state since World War Two, and governing at state level would mean powers over policing and local education.

Von Storch said if parties refused to work with the AfD, "then we might end up in severe chaos and maybe we have a new election".

Her comments were echoed by AfD's leader in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, who told a news conference on Monday that the party had won a "clear mandate to govern".

Saxony-Anhalt has a small population of 2.1 million and the AfD in the state is assessed by domestic intelligence as "right-wing extremist", a classification rejected by Siegmund, 35.

Siegmund said discussions with other parties were initiated on Sunday night and could potentially take days or weeks to conclude.