The week in review: Firewall gone, Bautzen continues to burn

MV election result: Firewall torn down, government without AfD still possible

Facts:In the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on September 20, the AfD became the strongest party with 38.2% (SPD 35.5%, Left 6.5%, Greens 5.7%). The CDU (4.9%), BSW (4.8%) and FDP (1.0%) failed to pass the 5% hurdle - the CDU is not in a state parliament for the first time since 1990. Mathematically, the SPD, Left and Greens would have a slim majority without the AfD. At 78.1%, voter turnout was higher than it has been for a long time, from which the AfD in particular benefited (Faultline).

Classification:The fact that a traditional citizens' party is completely thrown out of a state parliament is not an industrial accident, but rather the temporary end of years of pandering to right-wing positions. The AfD is winning not despite, but because of the normalization that the CDU and parts of the media have been pursuing for years. The fact that a government without the AfD is still possible is no reason to give the all-clear - 38.2% in one federal state means: The shift to the right has arrived here, not somewhere far away.

Saxony: Fewer attacks overall, more in the strongholds

Facts:The figures published by the victim advisory network RAA Sachsen for 2025 show 292 racist and neo-Nazi attacks nationwide - 11% fewer than in 2024 (328). Leipzig and Dresden reported falling numbers, Chemnitz rose, and in the Bautzen district - a neo-Nazi stronghold since the 1990s - the number of attacks rose from 26 to 42, an increase of 62% in a single year (Faultline).

Classification:A falling total is not good news if it masks a redistribution of violence to already vulnerable regions. Anyone who lives in Bautzen as a migrant, queer or visibly left-wing will have a higher risk in 2025 than in 2024 - the state statistics say the opposite of what the headline suggests. That's exactly why we never read numbers without the regional breakdown.

Direct action: An AfD car less drivable, an anarchist bloc in Leipzig

Facts:On the sidelines of an unofficial AfD barbecue in Fluorn-Winzeln, Baden-Württemberg, according to a confessional report, an AfD official's car was rendered unusable with four flat tires and paint (Faultline). In Leipzig, an anarchist bloc took part in the school strike and the social protests against conscription, according to its own communiqué with around 5,000 participants in the demonstration (Faultline).

Classification:Two very different forms of resistance in the same week: the quiet sabotage against Nazi cadres who believe they can celebrate undisturbed, and the visible presence in a mass movement against rearmament and conscription. Both belong together. Anyone who believes that antifascism is just sticking up banners has not understood the scope.

Hamburg is practicing war, the streets are practicing resistance

Facts:The Bundeswehr exercise “Red Storm Charlie” took place in Hamburg from Thursday to Saturday - around 500 soldiers, 60 organizations and over 70 armored vehicles practiced the transfer of troops and material to the east in the event of war, with the participation of civilian institutions and companies. It was the third edition in a row. A variety of protests emerged against this (Faultline).

Classification:The fact that a war exercise in the middle of a major German city becomes routine and that companies take part as a matter of course is the civilian side of the rearmament spiral, which is otherwise only discussed in terms of percentages of the defense budget. The protest against this is not a side note, but the only consistent reaction to a policy that once again considers war to be plannable.

The shift to the right is not an abstract phenomenon - it has a state parliament in MV, statistics from Bautzen and a war game in Hamburg. And everywhere he meets people who don't participate. We remain one of them.

We won't budge a meter.