Sinkevičius says AfD victory will not alter ties with Germany

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said the Alternative for Germany party’s victory in elections in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt would not fundamentally change cooperation between Lithuania and Germany, LRT reported.

“The results are worrying, but we all understand that these were free and democratic elections and the choice of the people of a particular German state,” Sinkevičius told reporters on Monday.

He said Germany remained and would continue to remain Lithuania’s most important strategic partner.

Sinkevičius also said extremist forces were gaining ground not only in Germany but in other countries. He described the trend as a warning to traditional political forces that they were failing, or not sufficiently managing, to meet voters’ and society’s expectations.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the danger in Europe was growing, while parties that denied those threats were gaining more voter support.

“We have to wake up, see the situation as it is and understand that we must do enough to deter such threats and prepare to defend ourselves against them,” Kallas said.

She stressed, however, that the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt reflected the democratic right of the state’s residents to make their choice.

President Gitanas Nausėda said he was disappointed by the party’s victory and that the strengthening of populist forces in parts of Germany was worrying. He said Lithuania expected Germany to honour its commitments.

According to preliminary results, the AfD won Sunday’s election with 43.8 percent of the vote, ahead of the Christian Democratic Union, which received 17.2 percent. The Left, the Greens and the Social Democratic Party each won about 9 percent and passed the 5 percent threshold for entering the state parliament.

The populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance also cleared the threshold. The business-oriented Free Democratic Party received 2.6 percent and did not enter parliament.

Sinkevičius met Kallas in Vilnius on Monday to discuss regional security, border reinforcement and hybrid threats. He said Lithuania expected the European Commission to understand the challenges faced by eastern flank states and wanted their interests to be heard as the 2028 to 2034 financial framework was prepared.