I’ve long been skeptical of the EU expansions and increasingly so over the years. And if one should join now, imo there should at least be a very strong, robust majority for that in that respective country before even considering. In that sense I don’t ‘want’ Norway to join either, and everything is perfectly fine as it is atm.
3 Likes
Weirdly, it is the same institutional representation problem illustrated by FIFA. Nominally democratic, but in practice incredibly vulnerable to capture by management
2 Likes
Yep. With a bit of Eurovision thrown in.
4 Likes
https://x.com/BBCBreaking/status/2094815735734251638
https://x.com/SecGenNATO/status/2094818411066904731
7 Likes
https://x.com/vonderleyen/status/2095101850991087872
https://x.com/kajakallas/status/2095054697321148473
https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2095086056131399863
3 Likes
Is that last line a threat against European leaders?
3 Likes
In the past, until 2020, i was a opponent of the German membership of the European Union (EU) and did prefered a “Gerxit” (“Dexit”), the exit of Germany from the European Union. Germany do gives more money for and into the European Union than the majority of another member countries. But i has did checked the pros and contras of the exit from the European Union - and since this time: I am be pleasure, that Germany a EU member. Next week, saturday, 12 September 2026, will i make a short going to the Netherlands. And due the membership into the European Union, i does need only a German identity card. 
1 Like
Do you lives in Germany. Do you know, Germany was called in especially Greece as “Nazis”? That too a reason, why i was for a “Gerxit”.
So what happens now? AfD finds a coalition partner? AfD forms a minority government? So-called Grand Coalition keeps them out of power?
I think it depends on the BSW vote. They are currently on 5.1% of the vote. If that drops, they could lose all representatives and that would put the AfD in power. Otherwise, the BSW could be a coalition partner.
I’m tempted to say, let them run the place. Their main policies would be a local disaster, and the wider picture is protected by the basic law. Sometimes learning the hard way is the only way to go.
4 Likes
Yeah, and BSW are crackpots too.
2 Likes
It’s only a state election? Is it such a critical state where it will project what will happen on a federal level?
It’s a symbolic result, but at a federal level it would make very little difference. At the last federal election the AfD received around 37% of the Sachsen-Anhalt vote, In this election they have received 44%. At a national level that might result in one extra representative in the Bundestag.
1 Like
Ok guess it’s only a big concern if other states start falling to Afd?
2 Likes
It starts causing a problem if their vote gets large enough for other parties to for a viable coalition.
1 Like
Wasn´t it 21% last time? Essentially doubled.
That was the figure for the last state election, not the federal election. Gasband had asked what effect that would have at a federal level so I used the figure from the 2025 federal election.
It’s absolutely a big deal that a fascist party is about to control a state in Germany. The whole country has dedicated itself to fighting fascism since 1945, and rightly so, given what went before. Any victory for the extreme right is a major concern in the country and absolutely not a moment for shoulder shrugging.
3 Likes
Yeah, democracy is about respecting the majority of people’s wishes. They want the AfD, let them have it. The problem of course, is that the ‘hard way’ can set back a country for decades (or a Land in this case).
The sky won’t fall down on us all because Sachsen-Anhalt is ruled by AfD. Italy is ruled by fascists after all, and the European Union has to a degree a tempering effect on their actions. The German federal state will have a similar tempering effect. But people in Sachsen-Anhalt will suffer: mainly the refugees and all people who don’t correspond to AfD’s narrow views on what they consider a worthy citizen. Having a dark skin will be enough to be targeted I guess…
So, I still hope that they don’t come in full power. Just in order to reduce the inevitable suffering which will come along with it.
2 Likes