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The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is riding high in the opinion polls in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt and could win an outright majority in regional elections there in September, AzerNEWS reports via BBC.

It would be the first time a far-right party has held power in a German state since World War Two.

This weekend the AfD officially adopted what has been described as a "radical" and pro-ethnic German government programme for Saxony-Anhalt at a party conference in the central city of Magdeburg.

The AfD's leading candidate in the state, Ulrich Siegmund, a TikTok star who was given a standing ovation by the delegates, said it was an historic moment, not just for Saxony-Anhalt.

"The whole of Germany is watching this historic election," he told the conference.

"Parts of Europe are watching this historic election. Parts of the world are watching this historic election, because from here, finally, the political turnaround can also happen here in Germany."

He said his party had the courage to speak out about what was going wrong in Germany, "that we don't feel safe anymore, that we scarcely feel at home anymore, that we don't recognise our homeland anymore".

"Let's take back our country," he added.

The programme, which is more than 150 pages long, contains wide-ranging plans to overhaul Saxony-Anhalt, clamping down on immigrants and supporting large families of German origin.

It also wants to improve relations with Russia, directly contradicting the policies of the federal coalition government, which is a key supporter of Ukraine.

"We say yes to consistent deportations, we say yes to free childcare facilities, we say yes to remigration," Siegmund said.

Some of the proposals appear to be unworkable at a state level, requiring action by the federal government, but many others are feasible.

Eva von Angern, leader of the left-wing Linke Party parliamentary group in Saxony-Anhalt, earlier described the AfD's plans as a "nightmare scenario for Saxony-Anhalt and for our democracy".

She said the AfD was promoting an authoritarian state that would severely curtail fundamental rights.

Accusing the party of harbouring "inhuman fantasies of omnipotence", von Angern said the public must be made aware of the AfD's "ugly truths" and the "very negative consequences for them personally if the AfD were to govern".

Saxony-Anhalt, like much of the former Communist East Germany, is an AfD stronghold, but the party is doing well all over the country.

It came second in federal elections in Germany last year, winning a record 152 seats in the 630-seat parliament with 20.8% of the vote.

In 2023, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt classified the AfD branch in the state as a "far-right extremist organisation".