Supporters queue in lines stretching dozens of metres for a photo with him: AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund. The 35-year-old is standing for the party in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt.
The state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution — a department of the Germany's interior ministry — has classified the Saxony-Anhalt AfD as a confirmed far-right extremist organisation. Siegmund, whose TikTok following has made him the party's poster boy in eastern Germany, has been received like a celebrity all over the state.
"I finally want to make policy for our own country again," Siegmund tells Euronews. He wants to overhaul migration policy, freeing up money he says is "currently being handed out around the world, for people who are here illegally, who commit crimes here." Policy, he says, should serve "our own interest, for our own country."
Within his first 100 days in office, Siegmund plans to introduce a "work obligation for asylum seekers." Fire service driving licences and the display of flags at schools are also near the top of his list. "Of course this isn't turning the really big wheel, but these are the first concrete steps where you can see the first progress across all areas of this society."
