Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Germans to stand up for democracy, warning that the country must confront a political moment in which the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has become powerful enough to dominate public debate.
Speaking at an event in Berlin one week before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Merkel said Germany was facing a challenge that had not confronted the country in decades. She called for greater political engagement and courage, arguing that citizens needed to defend democratic values openly rather than allow them to be taken for granted.
“I believe we now need to do something we haven’t had to do for many decades: really fight for this democracy, get involved, be a little courageous, stand by our word, and say that this is a great way to live,” the former Chancellor said.
Merkel’s intervention comes as the AfD leads the polls in Saxony-Anhalt and as the party’s influence has increasingly extended beyond its traditional strength in the former East Germany. Merkel acknowledged that the majority of Germans do not vote for the AfD, but said the party had nevertheless developed into a nationwide phenomenon.
The former Chancellor pointed to the party’s gains not only in eastern Germany but also in the former West Germany. The AfD had made advances in state elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, she noted, demonstrating that its political reach was no longer confined to the regions where it had historically been strongest.
For Merkel, the problem extends beyond electoral performance. She argued that the AfD’s influence over political discussion itself had become a central concern.
Referring to the election campaign in Saxony-Anhalt, she said the party had partly succeeded in “dominating all our conversations from morning till night”. The consequence, she added, was that it was becoming difficult to understand what the other political parties actually wanted.
The warning comes just days before Saxony-Anhalt elects a new state parliament on September 6th. Current polling places the AfD clearly ahead of its rivals, putting the party at more than 41 percent.
The figures represent a substantial lead over the CDU, which is polling at 22.6 percent. The Left Party follows with 12.5 percent, while the SPD stands at 7.5 percent. The Greens are only just above the five percent threshold, at 5.3 percent. The BSW and FDP are both polling between three and four percent and would not enter the state parliament on those figures.
The strength of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt carries particular significance because the party’s state branch has been classified by the Saxony-Anhalt Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a “confirmed right-wing extremist organization” since 2023.
That designation applies to suspected extremist organisations where the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can state with certainty that they are hostile to the constitution. According to the classification, the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt state branch does not support the free democratic basic order.
The combination of that classification and the party’s position in the polls places Merkel’s appeal in a particularly charged political context. Her argument was not that most Germans support the AfD, but that its growing electoral strength and ability to shape political conversations require a more active defence of democratic politics.
Merkel’s own biography gives her warning an additional historical dimension. She served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, making her one of the country’s longest-serving post-war leaders. She grew up in East Germany and became the first woman and the first person socialised in East Germany to hold the office of Chancellor.
Her political career therefore spans the reunified Germany that emerged after the division of the country. Her remarks come at a time when the political divide between the former eastern and western regions remains visible in the differing strength of the AfD.
Yet the former Chancellor also stressed that the party’s advance should not be understood solely as an eastern German phenomenon. Its gains in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, she argued, demonstrate the extent to which the AfD has become a nationwide political force.
That expansion has changed the character of Germany’s political debate. Merkel’s concern is not simply that the AfD is winning votes, but that its prominence can draw the entire political conversation towards its themes, leaving voters less able to distinguish what competing parties stand for.
Her call for citizens to become “a little courageous” was therefore framed as a defence of participation itself. Democracy, in her formulation, requires people to become involved, stand by their words and openly affirm its value.
The immediate test will come in Saxony-Anhalt, where voters will decide the composition of a new state parliament on September 6th. With the AfD currently polling above 41 percent and its state branch officially classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organisation, the election has become a significant measure of the party’s strength in Germany.
For Merkel, however, the issue extends beyond a single state election. The AfD’s growing presence across Germany, combined with its ability to dominate political discussion, has prompted the former Chancellor to make an unusually direct appeal: democracy should not be treated as something guaranteed, but as something that citizens must actively defend.
