AfD surge signals spread of populist far-right parties across Europe

Sylvie Bermann, France’s first female ambassador to China, the United Kingdom and Russia, joined international‑affairs editor Philip Turle in Paris on Tuesday to discuss a surge of populist far‑right movements across Europe. The meeting, welcomed by Annette Young of the diplomatic corps, followed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s surprising electoral success in Saxony‑Anhalt, which many analysts now see as a symptom of a broader shift in European politics rather than a one‑off German event.

The rise of the AfD and similar parties is linked to a series of recent political milestones that have shifted the political spectrum. Brexit in 2020 and Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential victories helped normalise hard‑line, nationalist positions that were once considered fringe. These events, combined with a wave of economic downturns, trade disruptions, and the ongoing geopolitical tensions surrounding Ukraine, have eroded public confidence in established parties. In many countries, voters now view the mainstream as out of touch with everyday concerns such as job security, immigration and national identity.

Bermann and Turle highlighted specific data on the AfD’s performance. In Saxony‑Anhalt, the party captured 21% of the vote, a jump of almost 10 percentage points from the last election. The result gave the AfD a foothold in a region that had historically leaned towards the Social Democrats and the Greens. The party’s platform, which calls for stricter immigration controls and a more skeptical stance toward the European Union, now resonates with a growing segment of the electorate that feels left behind by the status quo. The breakthrough is part of a pattern seen in France, Italy and Spain, where populist parties have increased their share of seats in national parliaments.

The implications of this trend are far‑reaching. European leaders must decide whether to engage with these parties in coalition talks or to marginalise them entirely. The European Parliament will soon vote on new migration policies, and the composition of the next European Council could shift if populist parties gain more seats. For now, the focus is on monitoring how the AfD’s success influences policy debates and whether it will prompt mainstream parties to adjust their platforms to recapture voters who feel alienated. The conversation in Paris underscored that Europe’s political landscape is in flux, and that the rise of the far right is a warning sign of deeper societal fractures that will shape the continent’s future.