AfD Saxony-Anhalt is a racist extremist group, according to the German state's intelligence agency. The party may well trounce its rivals in this weekend's state election.

By James Mackenzie BERLIN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Voters in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt go to the polls on Sunday in an election where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is hoping to win power for the first time and mark a historic shift in German politics.

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.

The nationalist party that promises to strip back asylum rights is poised to win a state election for the first time.

The Alternative for Germany party has tried to soften its hard-line image but is still privately working with extremists. It could win a state election on Sunday.

Germany, France and Poland aimed to display unity on Thursday in the face of hybrid attacks from Russia, days after Berlin formally accused Moscow of being behind an attempted attack involving an

AfD gains in state elections would add to internal pressures on the government as it faces a growing external threat from Russia, writes CFR’s.

With Germany’s far right party ahead in the polls, voters in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt are gearing up for what could be one of the most significant elections in the country’s post-war history.

By Friederike Heine BERLIN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Germany was investigating a suspected arson attack outside a defence firm in Munich on Thursday, days after two sabotage attempts on the power grid and a month after an airport drone attack that Berlin and its allies blamed on Russia.