The AfD doesn’t need to win

Alternative for Germany (AfD) has dominated the election campaign that began when Chancellor Olaf Scholz dissolved the current coalition of Social Democrats , Greens and Free Democrats in November 2024 .

The AfD is a strange party and in some ways it is quite different from most of the other far-right parties that have been getting more powerful across Europe during the last decade .

The US government is openly supporting a party which is seen as a threat to democracy in Germany .

If Vance’s Munich trip is anything to go by, the AfD is also now the Trump administration's preferred interlocutor.

What exactly this means for the future is hard to know.

It could mean that Weidel can ask the U.S. to pressure on the next government to do what she wants though on immigration policy she is already pushing at an open door.