Poland has warned that the rise of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) could create a new security risk for Europe as Berlin rapidly expands its military capabilities, despite Warsaw’s support for a stronger German defense posture.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Poland wants Germany to play a stronger role in European security, but cautioned that the prospect of a heavily rearmed Germany under a far-right, pro-Russian government raises serious concerns.
“We want Germany to play a strong role in securing our common security under democratic leadership and as Europe’s largest economy,” Sikorski told Handelsblatt.
“But we remember all too well where a rearmed Germany in the hands of a far-right, pro-Russian party can lead — and that is exactly what the AfD represents,” he added.
Sikorski’s warning came after the AfD recorded a historic result in Sunday’s election in Saxony-Anhalt, winning 43.8 percent of the vote and more than doubling its share from the 2021 election. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, meanwhile, fell to 17.2 percent, its worst result in the eastern German state.
The result has intensified concerns in neighboring countries about the potential consequences if the AfD eventually gains national political power.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued an even sharper warning after the election, saying that “only idiots or traitors” in Poland could celebrate the AfD’s victory.
For Warsaw, the prospect of a far-right movement gaining influence in a rapidly rearming Germany carries particular historical weight. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 triggered World War II in Europe and was followed by a brutal occupation.
At the same time, Germany is undergoing its most significant military expansion in decades.
Merz pledged after taking office in 2025 to make the Bundeswehr “the strongest conventional army in Europe.” Germany spent an estimated $114 billion on its military last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, while Berlin plans further increases in defense spending.
Germany is also developing long-range weapons with a planned investment of nearly €12 billion, giving its armed forces the ability to strike military targets hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away. The buildup is intended in large part to strengthen deterrence against Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
The AfD, however, advocates a significantly different approach to the conflict.
The party’s lawmakers in the Bundestag have called for Germany to end weapons deliveries to Ukraine and for sanctions against Russia to be rolled back as part of peace negotiations.
The contrast between Germany’s military buildup and the AfD’s position on Russia has heightened the sensitivity of the issue for countries on Europe’s eastern flank, including Poland.
The AfD remains in opposition at the federal level. Germany’s mainstream political parties continue to maintain an electoral “firewall” against cooperation with the far right, refusing to form governing alliances with the AfD.
For Poland, the debate is therefore not about opposing German rearmament itself. Warsaw increasingly sees a stronger German military as an important component of European defense.
The concern is who could ultimately control that military power and what foreign-policy direction Germany would take if the AfD were ever to enter government.
Sikorski’s warning reflects that central dilemma: Poland wants a stronger Germany capable of contributing to European security, but not a Germany whose growing military strength could eventually be placed under a far-right movement advocating closer accommodation with Moscow.
