🗳 Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won roughly 44% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt’s September 6 election, marking a major breakthrough for the party even though it fell short of a parliamentary majority.

🇺🇿 The result could matter for Central Asians, particularly those looking to work or study in Germany. AfD regional leader Ulrich Siegmund has previously visited Uzbekistan as part of a delegation focused on labour mobility and academic cooperation.

🚫 Siegmund has since argued that Germany should address its labour shortages without relying on foreign workers, while the AfD’s state programme supports only selected skilled immigration and rejects workers it describes as “culturally alien”.

👷 Foreign employees covered by social insurance in Saxony-Anhalt increased from 20,260 to 75,300 between 2015 and 2025, even as the German workforce has been shrinking due to retirements.

🌍 Uzbekistan could be particularly affected as around 1.4 million Uzbeks work abroad, including about 258,000 in European countries. An increasingly restrictive German migration policy could narrow one of the alternatives to traditional labour destinations such as Russia.

🎓 Education could also be affected. More than 500,000 people across Central Asia were learning German as of February, while Germany and the region have been expanding higher-education cooperation.

🏛 The AfD also wants development aid to be linked to countries’ cooperation with deportations and returns, potentially complicating Germany’s broader cooperation with Central Asian states.

🤝 The election does not automatically cancel existing work or study permits, but a stronger AfD presence could influence migration policy and the political environment in which Central Asian workers, students and governments operate.