By Maria Martinez BERLIN, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Germany cannot defend itself without taking on new debt, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Tuesday, justifying rising defence spending amid growing threats.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to first place in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, winning 44% of the vote. But the anti-immigrant, pro-Russian party fell three seats short of an absolute majority,

The vote marks a major breakthrough for the party and a fresh challenge to Germany's mainstream political establishment.

By Miranda Murray and Andreas Rinke BERLIN, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Chancellor Friedrich Merz ruled out working with the Alternative for Germany on Monday after the far-right party surged into first place in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt,

A blowout win by the far-right Alternative for Germany party in a state election has revealed a split among voters about whether to uphold a decades-old strategy for sidelining extremists.

RAGUHN-JESSNITZ, Germany — The first brick to fall in Germany’s so-called firewall against the far right was this town of some 9,000 people in the small eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

German intelligence has concluded that an explosive-laden drone was linked to Russia. Officials promise consequences.

A score of 44-44.5 per cent would be the highest outcome for a far-right movement in a regional or national election since the second world war — and this for a party whose regional branch has been categorised as extremist by Germany’s domestic security service.

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 43.8% of the vote in Sunday's Saxony-Anhalt state election, its strongest regional result. The win revives questions about what a bigger AfD footprint would mean for Bitcoin (BTC) policy in Europe's largest economy.

The AfD, classified as ‘far-right extremist’ by Germany’s intelligence agency, is projected to come first in 2029.