Eva von Angern in an interview“I have never felt such existential fear about the outcome of an election.”
July 13, 2026, 2:58 pm 
Interview: Hubertus Vollmer
Listen to the article(09:45 min)
Left parliamentary group leader Eva von Angern is her party’s leading candidate in the September 6 state elections. (Photo: photo alliance/dpa)SplitFollow along:
In less than two months, Saxony-Anhalt will elect a new state parliament. Many voters fear a majority for the AfD, says leading left-wing candidate Eva von Angern. This overshadows classic campaign themes.
ntv.de: Which topic is dominating the election campaign in Saxony-Anhalt?
Eva von Angern: These state elections are elections of destiny, we hear this in many conversations with civil society and people on the streets and at information stands. Unfortunately, the AfD has been leading in opinion polls for months. We, as leftists, strive to prevent the AfD from gaining an absolute majority. Our main priority is the accessibility of everyday life: shopping, rent, gas. Everything should become cheaper again. But taking other topics into account is not easy.
What other topics could these be?
The future of education in schools and kindergartens. What’s next for rural areas? Will we be able to provide basic medical care in all areas in Saxony-Anhalt? There is a very real concern that Saxony-Anhalt will see a wave of company closures similar to the one that occurred during reunification, leading to the loss of many jobs.
Speaking of civil society: at the AfD party conference in Erfurt, Björn Höcke threatened that if the AfD governs, the tax plug will be pulled out of “colorful civil society.” How is this perceived by the clubs and associations you speak to?
Similar statements come from the main AfD candidate in Saxony-Anhalt. On the sidelines of Saxony-Anhalt Day in Bernburg in early June, he made clear that associations supporting queer people and people with a migrant background could continue to do so while the AfD was in power, but only on a voluntary basis. Mr. Sigmund apparently does not know that most of those involved are already volunteers. He is concerned about something else: creating a social climate in Saxony-Anhalt in which it will be more difficult for queer people to realize their rights and in which people with a migration background in this country will become uncomfortable. And the AfD wants to create a country in which the rights women fought for will be curtailed.
This probably makes people with a migration background in Saxony-Anhalt uncomfortable.
According to current research, around 80 percent of people with a migrant background are thinking of leaving Saxony-Anhalt after 6 September. This will have dramatic consequences for the economy, health care and much more. But the social consequences will be even greater. For us, human rights are non-negotiable. Many of those who vote for the AfD think it will improve their well-being. In fact, the AfD does not make policies for ordinary people, but defends corporations and the super-rich, rejects wage increases and collective agreements.
Anyone who wants to vote for the AfD has no problem being disgusted by people with a migration background.
I refuse to believe this until proven otherwise. After all, there are very different reasons why people vote for the AfD.
Which?
Many people are extremely disappointed with Chancellor Merz and federal policies. I can understand this, but I think that voting for the AfD was a completely wrong decision, which only offers false solutions, especially when it comes to the safety of kindergartens and schools.
What do kindergartens and schools have to do with state elections?
When people with a migrant background leave Saxony-Anhalt, small kindergartens and schools come under pressure. Some are even closed because there are no longer enough children on site. Then the infrastructure in rural areas will be dismantled. We on the left want to promote rural development. We want to see more village community centres, nurseries and even bars. Everything worth living for.
What do you tell a voter who doesn’t care about minorities?
Minorities do not take anything away from the majority when they assert their rights. That’s why we gave our campaign message: “A home for everyone.” This applies to people with disabilities, queer people, people with a migration background. If this is not convincing, then I will argue with the numbers. Our birth rate is so low that we cannot afford to expel people with a migrant background from our country.
How much did Luigi Pantisano’s phrase help you: “there is no difference between the CDU, which pursues fascist policies, the AfD or the fascists themselves”?
When the quote became known, I said very quickly and clearly that for me the CDU is a democratic party. I think it’s very good that Luigi Pantisano apologized the next day. Very few politicians do this. He did it.
Have you had contact with the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt since the incident?
We have regular contact with the CDU: we sit together on state parliament committees. We are fierce political competitors, but when necessary we work together in plenary sessions. I didn’t experience a break there. But I see a bogeyman being created at the federal political level to harm the left. This is obviously part of the political discourse.
At the Left Party Congress in Potsdam, Rosa Luxemburg declared that joining bourgeois governments could only lead to “harm to the class struggle.” To what extent is the left as a party torn between class struggle and governmental realism?
Rosa Luxemburg strongly spoke out in favor of participating in the elections. It’s always helpful to talk to each other and exchange different experiences and points of view. If we can then achieve this exchange of experiences based on mutual trust, then we, as the left, will become a party that exists not for its own sake, but for the interests of the people, first and foremost for themselves. The left has grown incredibly in recent years, which is great, but it has also made the task of party leaders moderating the conversation more necessary. The two of them have a lot of responsibility. I firmly believe they can do it justice.
How realistic do you think it is that the AfD will have an absolute majority in the state parliament after the elections?
There are less than 60 days left until our elections. I take it every day to prevent this scenario. I have been involved in Left politics in the State Parliament for a long time. What I have never experienced is a situation where people are directly afraid of the outcome of the elections – an existential fear that the AfD will come to government. With a strong left in the new state parliament, we will effectively prevent the emergence of the AfD.
Are you concerned that individual CDU members in the state parliament might help the AfD candidate become prime minister?
The CDU should worry about this, not us. But I don’t think it’s out of the question. Of course, there were also delicate moments in the state parliament – five years ago Rainer Haseloff was not elected in the first round.
The CDU in Saxony-Anhalt has its own history: there are politicians who wanted to “reconcile the national with the social.”
I know this and condemn it. Playing with fire in this way is irresponsible. Of course, I also expect Sven Schulze to provide clean conditions in his store rather than give things away.
They think that Prime Minister Schulze is saying that he will not become dependent on the left or the AfD. Do you understand this as a refusal of any form of cooperation?
I see this as giving up on mathematics. What he says is a complete denial of reality. He should look at the fate of Kai Wegner in Berlin.
Are you secretly hoping that the Greens will break the five percent barrier, because then the AfD will be less likely to have a majority?
No, on the contrary. My biggest concern is that Green votes are wasted votes. Or even voices that unfortunately end up helping the AfD.
Hubertus Volmer spoke with Eva von Angern