German establishment politicians seem increasingly desperate to avoid a win for the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) at the general election in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt in the autumn.
The state’s former prime minister, Reiner Haseloff (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), has now warned voters that universities from other states may no longer accept secondary-school diplomas from Saxony-Anhalt if the right-wingers come into power.
Haseloff ruled the state for 15 years until he stepped down in January 2026 to allow his successor, CDU politician Sven Schulze, to have some time in office before the election in September 2026.
Latest polls see AfD winning the election in a landslide with more than 40 per cent of the vote – while the CDU might only achieve 25 per cent, 12 percentage points less than at the previous election in 2021.
In an interview with magazine Spiegel from May 5, Haseloff said: “It is important to make clear what an AfD-led state government would mean.
“Take education policy, for example. It would mean that Abitur diplomas [the German equivalent to A levels] and other qualifications from such a state would no longer be accepted as a matter of course by universities elsewhere.”
Haseloff added that an AfD-led state government might also jeopardise co-operation between security agencies as well as funding from the European Union and the German Government.
Schulze reiterated Haseloff’s claim in a separate interview with magazine Focus on May 7, saying: “AfD wants to completely overhaul the mandatory school curriculum.
“If a federal state were to set itself apart from the rest of Germany in this way, why would Munich or Hamburg, for example, continue to accept this Abitur diploma without any issues? The other federal states will no longer accept those diplomas.”
Schulze also cautioned that an AfD-led state government would cause “a wave of school closures in rural areas” as the right-wingers wanted to abolish compulsory education.
Saxony-Anhalt’s AfD leader Ulrich Siegmund told Welt TV yesterday the claims of Haseloff and Schulze showed “absolute panic”:
“They see that their politics do not cut it. So they try their hand at fairy tales like this – which is, of course, utter nonsense. Conversely, maybe one day the Saxony-Anhalt Abitur diploma will be held in especially high esteem because of our plans for the education system.”
Also yesterday, education expert Kai Maaz told state broadcaster ZDF that it was not possible for German states to question school diplomas from certain states for political reasons, adding: “The mutual recognition of school and higher education qualifications is a cornerstone of Germany’s federal education system.”
