Germany’s ‘Most Dangerous Man’: PR gift for the AfD?

The Ukrainian capital was hit by Russia’s most intense wave of air attacks on Kyiv, reportedly in four years, with Reuters describing air raid sirens, drones, cruise and ballistic missiles exhausting Ukraine’s defence system, with 12 people killed and the Ukrainian foreign minister making a direct appeal to Western allies for more Patriot interceptor missiles. Ukraine’s asymmetric war continues, exposing the vulnerabilities of its refineries and logistics hubs. AP reports more than 43,000 Ukrainian drones have either struck targets or been intercepted over Russia since June. It’s been a week of goodwill and pledges between old frenemies on either side of the Channel. With President Macron in London to mark the beginning of the 10-month loan of the Bayeux Tapestry, political headlines focused on Normandy, with Britain’s latest PM looking for ways to stop the migrant boats. Migration was on the agenda in Birmingham too, as the leaders of the nationalist right, Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella, got together and got their share of the headlines — not all of them good for Reform — as the new Franglais power couple projected their own alliance. And it’s been a final week of election rallies and TV debates for an unusually consequential contest in Germany: the election in Saxony-Anhalt, where the Alternative for Germany party, currently ahead in all the polls, could make history. Lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund could become the first far-right leader of a German state since the Second World War, with Der Spiegel magazine carrying over fears of what came before, labelling Siegmund as “Germany’s most dangerous man”. The former perfume salesman embraced it as a PR gift, taking copies to rallies and signing them for supporters. Produced by Gavin Lee, Alessandro Xenos, Théo Vareille, Daniel Whittington and Laura Burloux Our guests Vivienne WALT Time correspondent in Paris, contributor to Fortune and the New York Times DealBook Agnès POIRIER London Correspondent, l'Express Magazine Tom NUTTALL The Economist’s Chief Germany Correspondent, Head of the Berlin Bureau Francis Dearnley Executive editor, the Telegraph