Elections in the East German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania gave the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) two striking victories, marking the German far right’s first landslide since the Third Reich’s fall in 1945. The elections also increased the party’s vote share in Berlin. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats suffered a historic defeat in all three elections.AdvertisementFrom failing to enter the Bundestag in 2013, the nativist, anti-immigrant AfD rose to second place in the 2025 federal elections, becoming Germany’s largest opposition party. It has exploited grievances over economic stagnation, pairing broader discontent with demands for severe restrictions on immigration. This has profound consequences for Germany, the EU, and India.Also Read | In AfD’s rise, a bigger question for democracyIn 2022, India and Germany signed a Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement (MMPA) to facilitate easier two-way mobility for students and professionals. As Germany grapples with demographic challenges of ageing populations, mass retirements and declining birth rates, the MMPA provides up to 3,000 annual job seeker visas for qualified Indian professionals.However, while Germany invests in creating structural legal pathways to address its acute labour shortages, its electoral politics portrays migration as a threat.AdvertisementWith Indian nationals tripling from 86,000 in 2015 to 280,000 in 2025, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs describes India as “the most important country of origin for labour and education migration”. Around 1,38,000 Indians work in skilled occupations including STEM fields, IT, healthcare — sectors central to the German economy, but struggling with the largest worker deficits.A Bertelsmann Foundation study estimates that Germany would need 400,000 fresh immigrants annually to address worker shortages, likely to number 1.3 million by 2030. The AfD’s proposed incentives to bring back Germans living abroad and “baby bonuses” can hardly bridge such gaps. But with the far-right boom, skilled Indians considering a future overseas may also rethink Germany’s allure.As migration rules are determined at the federal level, the far-right’s rise may not lead to a direct abrogation of German migration laws or agreements. Yet, there is already sound evidence of an increasingly hardening political atmosphere on migration. In 2025, Merz’s CDU sought to restrict migration through a proposed parliamentary law supported by the AfD. Thus, even as they try to keep the AfD out of office by upholding the “firewall”, the latter’s influence is changing how mainstream parties approach migration. States control aspects of public services, policing, and education, where far-right ideology may create an uneasy climate.Hate crimes doubled in Germany from 2019 to 2023. The AfD’s rhetoric explicitly differentiates between irregular migration that burdens domestic welfare systems and skilled legal migration that contributes to German society. Yet, rather than migration status, external traits such as skin colour shape day-to-day encounters and prejudices.While the election results may not erode Germany’s broader appeal, and a migration architecture that remains comparatively open as anglophone destinations tighten policies, perceptions are a two-way street. Hard-right rhetoric may convince skilled Indians to view Germany as a temporary corridor to onward migration.As Indo-German relations expand across the bilateral spectrum, the mobility of skilled professionals acts as a bridge, also linking both countries’ research and innovation ecosystems, particularly in domains such as digitalisation and AI. How policymakers reconcile political and economic realities will determine Germany’s fate as Europe’s industrial powerhouse and its attractiveness as a migratory destination.The writer is deputy director, Strategic Studies Programme, ORF