The Hungarian-language news portal Parameter.sk in Slovakia interviewed Péter Techet about the elections in Saxony-Anhalt and their consequences for the Federal Republic of Germany.
The article can be read here: Merznek egyáltalán nem sikerült „megfelezni” az AfD-t, de mit hozhat ez Németországra és Európára né…
Welcome to Quick Question, our new IDM series where trainees ask members of our team fun, thought-provoking and sometimes even controversial questions. There are no right or wrong answers, only honest opinions and plenty of different perspectives.
For our first episode, we asked Research Associates Rebecca Thorne, Péter Techet, Sophia Beiter and IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer: What is the Danube region for you?
Watch the episode to find out the many different answers this question inspired.
And we want to hear from you too! Share your questions with us in the comments of the video on our social media channels:
From 31 August to 3 September, Research Associate Rebecca Thorne was in Berlin for the IKEM Academy ‚Climate Spark: Igniting Multi-Level Action to Achieve the Global Energy Transition‘.
The first day involved a field trip to Feldheim, Germany’s first energy-independent village, where participants discovered how the community is served by a wind park, biogas plant, lithium battery storage and heat distribution centre. The visit included a look inside a wind turbine.
Presentations covered everything from the sobering state of the climate to the positive speculative art genre Solarpunk. Participants learned about the energy footprint of AI (almost impossible to calculate given so many different factors); the role of journalism (it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom); new technologies; the resilience of Ukraine’s energy sector; and the importance of equality and diversity as part of the energy transition.
During interactive workshops, participants had the opportunity to build a climate litigation case and plan an energy cooperative. There were also sessions that encouraged creative thinking: designing a sustainable city using mixed media and telling stories about the individuals behind the numbers.
On 3 and 4 September, IDM joined CAST partners in Budva, Montenegro, for a project meeting and study visit hosted by Urbani Kult. The meeting focused on the progress of the CAST pilot actions, the next stages of implementation and the further development of the CAST Model. Partners began with a check in on their pilot actions, sharing updates since the previous meeting in Chișinău, plans for the coming months and areas where further support could be useful.
As CAST communication lead, IDM led the SO3 storytelling workshop, focusing on how partners can communicate their pilot activities in ways that go beyond project terminology and connect with people. Using picture cards, partners worked in mixed groups to create short stories before turning the focus back to their own pilots. Each partner then had around three minutes to pitch their pilot, choosing their own format and approach. The aim was to identify the story behind each pilot, the cultural resource at its heart and its local impact. The exercise also gave partners practical ideas they can use when promoting their pilots in the future, including when creating videos and other communication materials. The meeting also included a reflection on the first jointly promoted season of the Danube Festival Caravan. Partners discussed their experiences from the first season and ideas for future editions, with the conversation continuing during the journey to Cetinje the following day.
The study visit took the group to Cetinje and Mount Lovćen, including visits to the Museum of King Nikola and Njegoš Mausoleum. The programme offered an opportunity to experience local cultural heritage and tourism from a visitor’s perspective, while reflecting on questions of authenticity and accessibility that are also relevant to the CAST pilot actions. The group also attended the official opening of the 20th Petrovac Jazz Festival, which is connected to Urbani Kult’s CAST pilot. The pilot focuses on the heritage of the festival and its potential to support wider work around local cultural resources and tourism.
Alongside the formal programme, the two days provided plenty of space for conversations between partners over coffee, meals and during journeys between locations, as well as some time to enjoy Budva and the seaside. The meeting brought together practical project work, communication and learning from the local context as CAST partners continue developing their pilot actions across the Danube Region.
On 3 September 2026, the second workshop in the CitizEn project took place in Podgorica, Montenegro. 14 representatives from think tanks across Europe gathered to continue the discussion started in Chisinau, Moldova, in June 2026, on how to prepare sceptical societies in the EU for a future enlargement of the Union.
The morning sessions were dedicated to joint work on the toolkit. The project participants engaged in a stakeholder mapping of relevant actors involved in communicating about EU enlargement in different countries. They also discussed different national contexts regarding public opinion on enlargement and country-specific anti-EU enlargement narratives. Based on these discussions, the goal was not only to debunk these narratives but also to identify new, positive narratives to increase support for enlargement in the EU. 
The afternoon sessions focused on the exchange between project partners and Montenegrin multipliers. 15 representatives from media, politics, NGOs, businesses and academia in Montenegro joined the discussion, which revolved around different EU and national communication strategies and their effectiveness.
Thanks to all of our project partners, in particular our Montenegrin partner, Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), for their support, as well as the Europe House in Podgorica for providing the venue.
On 2 September, IDM also co-organised a side event together with the Centre for Civic Education (CEE). You can find more information here: A bigger EU, but for whom? IDM event in Podgorica – IDM
The project results will be presented during our IDM Conference on 3 December 2026.
The AfD’s victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state election marks another significant shift in Germany’s political landscape. With 43.8% of the vote, the party became by far the strongest political force in the state, falling only three seats short of an absolute majority. For IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer, however, the most important result is not the AfD’s score, but the CDU’s defeat.
“The single most important number for me is not the high result of the AfD. It is the low result for the CDU,” Schäffer said in an interview with TVP World.
The CDU received only 17.2% of the vote, a dramatic decline from its previous result. The outcome challenges the party’s traditional position as Germany’s dominant centre-right force. Schäffer argues that the result also demonstrates the limits of attempts to compete with the AfD by adopting elements of its rhetoric.
“If you want the original, you do not go to the copy,” Schäffer noted, pointing to the growing difficulty for the CDU of distinguishing itself from the AfD while maintaining its own political profile.
The election also highlights the changing nature of the AfD itself. According to Schäffer, the party can no longer be understood primarily through the traditional image of a marginal far-right street movement.
“It is no longer skinheads in boots marching and shouting things that are forbidden by the Constitution in Germany,” Schäffer said. “We have friendly faces in the first row and then criminals and people that are linked to, for instance, the Identitarian movement in the second row.”
This professionalisation and mainstreaming of the AfD increases its potential appeal beyond its traditional far-right electorate. At the same time, the party’s ideological orientation remains significant. The AfD’s political environment includes established links to the broader right-wing extremist milieu, while its positions on migration, European integration, Russia and support for Ukraine distinguish it fundamentally from Germany’s democratic centre.
The result therefore raises a question that extends beyond Saxony-Anhalt: can the political model developed by the AfD in eastern Germany be transferred to the western German states?
Schäffer argues that there is no reason to assume that the party’s electoral success will remain geographically confined. The AfD is already led increasingly by politicians with western German backgrounds, while its professionalised public presentation makes it more accessible to voters outside the traditional far-right milieu.
At the same time, the election demonstrates that the AfD does not yet have a governing majority. With 39 of 83 seats, it remains dependent on support from other parties or individual members of the Landtag. Possible governing arrangements remain uncertain, including the possibility of minority government or a new election.
For Schäffer, however, the central challenge for Germany’s democratic parties goes beyond the immediate question of government formation.
“The other parties have to find answers to the topics that have been making the AfD strong,” he said.
Migration, economic insecurity and dissatisfaction with established political parties have created an electoral environment in which the AfD can continue to expand its support. Simply describing each successive result as a “wake up call” will not be sufficient.
The implications also extend beyond Germany. The AfD’s positions on Russia, Ukraine and European integration mean that its continued electoral rise is closely watched by Germany’s European partners.
The Saxony-Anhalt election is therefore not simply another state election. It is an indication of the continuing transformation of Germany’s party system and a warning that the political centre cannot rely on established electoral loyalties to contain the rise of the far right.
Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz-uxXDNmGE
In the Hungarian-language program of the Slovak public broadcaster, Péter Techet spoke about why and how “political Islam” could be banned in Austria.
The interview can be listened to here: Az osztrák kancellár a bécsi iskolák muszlim diákjai miatt aggódik – Pátria Rádió
In einem Essay in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung vergleicht Peter Techet die Systemwechsel in der Slowakei nach Vladimír Mečiar, in Kroatien nach Franjo Tuđman und in Serbien nach Slobodan Milošević – vor dem Hintergrund der Frage, ob und wie ein Systemwechsel in Ungarn nach Viktor Orbán gelingen kann.
Er meint, dass die Rückkehr zu einer liberalen Demokratie einen parteipolitischen Pluralismus erfordert, der in Ungarn derzeit jedoch noch weitgehend fehlt. Somit besteht die Gefahr, dass die liberale Demokratie in Ungarn nicht wie in Kroatien nach Tuđman nachhaltig gesichert werden kann, sondern – wenn auch nicht so drastisch wie in Serbien, aber ähnlich wie in der Slowakei nach 2023 – einen weiteren Rückschritt erleben könnte.
Der Artikel kann hier gelesen werden: In Osteuropa verlieren rechtsnationale Regierungen die Macht – doch nicht immer auf Dauer
An incident involving an explosives-laden drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport has triggered a fresh escalation in tensions between Berlin and Moscow. German authorities have accused Russian state structures of involvement in the sabotage, claiming that the drone was targeting a Ukrainian An-124 military transport aircraft. Berlin subsequently moved to close Russia’s Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian House in the capital. Moscow retaliated by announcing the closure of Goethe-Institut branches in Russia.
In an interview with Caliber.az, IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer assessed the incident as part of a broader Russian hybrid campaign against European countries supporting Ukraine. According to Schäffer, German investigators have forensic evidence that could help identify those responsible, and Berlin therefore views the incident as a Russia-linked act of sabotage.
““Moscow’s objective is to increase the political and security costs of supporting Ukraine. Germany, as a key military, industrial and logistical hub for assistance to Kyiv, is one of the main targets. Attacks on critical infrastructure, military facilities and transport networks are intended to sow fear and division in Europe without escalating to a direct confrontation with NATO,” Schäffer said.
He strongly condemned statements by Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev threatening strikes against German facilities, describing them as an unacceptable threat against a NATO member and part of an attempt to intimidate European governments and societies supporting Ukraine.
Schäffer also pointed to persisting divisions over Russia within Germany. “Among the far-right AfD in particular, there is a widespread view that sanctions are hurting Germany more than Russia and that Berlin should restore dialogue and economic ties with Moscow while reducing its support for Ukraine. This debate is becoming particularly relevant ahead of the elections in Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD is leading in opinion polls,” he said.
“Citizens’ economic concerns are real. However, hoping to achieve stability through concessions to Moscow is an illusion. In my view, abandoning pressure will not lead to peace; it will only reward aggression and create conditions for its further escalation,” Schäffer concluded.
Read the full article here: https://caliber.az/en/post/moscow-berlin-a-new-war-of-nerves?
Péter Techet wrote an op-ed for the Hungarian news portal 24.hu. The article examines the Icelandic referendum: why the EU is not attractive to developed countries, and whether there is any prospect of a “social Europe” in the context of further enlargement to the east.
The article can be read here: Techet Péter: Európai egység – túl sok bürokrácia vagy túl kevés jóléti állam? | 24.hu
