AfD and BSW carried the motion at an extraordinary plenary session on 14 October with 44 of 83 votes. The CDU, SPD, Greens and Left Party voted against, and there were no abstentions.
The motion asks for an immediate halt to arms shipments and to non-humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and for sanctions against Russia to be revoked. It asks the state government to push an initiative in the Bundesrat.
State parliaments have no foreign-policy powers, so the motion cannot change German arms or sanctions policy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz reaffirmed German support for Ukraine in his Bundestag statement.
The AfD won nearly 44% in the 6 September election and holds 39 of 83 seats. Siegmund wants a prime minister vote by the end of the year, but most other parties have ruled out a coalition with the AfD.
Saxony-Anhalt's regional parliament approved a motion on Wednesday, 14 October, at an extraordinary plenary session. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) submitted the text together, and their votes carried it with 44 of the 83 seats in the assembly. The CDU, SPD, Greens and Left Party voted against it, and no one abstained. Although the two parties do not form an official coalition or alliance, they have pledged to work together on shared interests, such as ending German support for Kyiv.
The document states that the current policy on sanctions, arms and aid has failed. It calls for an immediate suspension of arms shipments and of funds for Ukraine that go beyond humanitarian aid, along with the lifting of sanctions against Russia. Its authors argue that further weapons deliveries would only prolong the war and increase the risk of escalation. The state government is asked to use every means at its disposal, first through an initiative in the Bundesrat, the chamber that represents Germany's federal states. The motion, titled in translation 'Peace talks instead of expanding the war in Ukraine', also calls for peace negotiations. During the debate, Ulrich Siegmund of the AfD set the money sent to Ukraine against citizens' difficulty paying rent and shortfalls in health care, education and infrastructure.
The AfD won nearly 44% of the vote in the 6 September election, close to an absolute majority but short of one. It holds 39 of the 83 seats, while BSW entered the parliament with just over 5% of the vote and holds 5 seats.
Data from the article text
In the week of 5 October, BSW backed AfD candidate Tobias Rausch for president of the regional parliament, making him the highest-ranking elected official in the party's 13-year history. BSW has nonetheless made clear it will not back Siegmund for prime minister. Sahra Wagenknecht put the strategy bluntly in an interview with the t-online portal.
“The cordon sanitaire has failed.”
Under the cordon sanitaire, the other parties have refused to cooperate with the AfD, which the state's security services have classified as confirmed right-wing extremist. Wagenknecht's party says it will instead make policy through shifting majorities, which it calls the 'Magdeburg Way'.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government, described in the articles as the largest European provider of military aid to Kyiv, has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine and holds Russia responsible for the 2022 invasion. In his government statement to the Bundestag ahead of the European Council, Merz said that no euro sent to Ukraine is missing from social or education spending. Regional parliaments have no say in foreign policy, so the motion has no direct effect on arms deliveries or sanctions. On the same day, a trial opened in Hamburg of a former Ukrainian officer accused of involvement in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Kyiv has denied any involvement in the explosions.
Siegmund intends to seek formal parliamentary confirmation of his appointment as prime minister by the end of the year. Most other parties have ruled out a governing coalition with the AfD. Sven Schulze, the CDU's acting minister-president, described the motion as a wedding gift to BSW, alluding to the votes Siegmund needs. CDU parliamentarian Stefan Ruland argued that the motion reverses the roles of victim and aggressor.
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The motion, filed jointly by the AfD and BSW, passed with 44 of 83 votes on 14 October, while the CDU, SPD, Greens and Left Party voted against it.
AI text based on reports by Deutsche Welle, Ziare.com, EL MUNDO and other publishers. Changed .