How the AfD Became the Second-Largest Party in Germany
June 28, 2026 · Frisian News
The AfD now commands roughly 23 percent voter support and the second-largest bloc in the Bundestag. Mainstream parties created the conditions for this rise by ignoring working voters on immigration and jobs.
The Alternative for Germany now holds the second-largest bloc of seats in the Bundestag. Polls show the party commanding roughly 22 to 24 percent of voter support, a stunning rise from the margins a decade ago. The AfD's ascent was not accidental.
German voters worried about immigration, energy prices, and lost factory jobs found the mainstream parties indifferent. The CDU, SPD, and Greens spoke past these concerns while pursuing policies the public rejected: open borders, hasty energy transition, and submission to Brussels. When the establishment ignores working voters, those voters find another door.
The government's response has been to freeze out the AfD, exclude it from coalitions, and treat it as radioactive. This strategy may comfort the left, but it addresses nothing about why voters chose the party. When you tell people their concerns are illegitimate instead of solving them, you give the populist opposition a gift.
The AfD captures real grievances about sovereignty and immigration that mainstream parties abandoned. It also peddles crude nationalism and nostalgia that rarely translate to workable policy. The party benefits from the vacuum created by consensus politics, not from brilliance.
Germany's political landscape has fractured. No single bloc commands a majority, and coalition-building has turned toxic. The question facing German politics is simple: will mainstream parties actually address voter concerns, or will they keep pretending the problem is that voters vote wrong?
Published June 28, 2026 · Frisian News