Germany news: Saxony-Anhalt parliament sits after AfD win

The newly elected state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt is poised to hold its first session on Tuesday, over four weeks after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won elections there with almost 44% of the vote.

The AfD holds 39 seats in the legislature, the same number of seats as the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Left Party, Greens and Social Democrats (SPD) together.

During the session, parliamentarians are to vote for a speaker, with the AfD, as the strongest force, empowered to nominate the first candidate.

The AfD has put forward long-serving parliamentarian Tobias Rausch, 35, for the post, a choice that the populist BSW, which holds 5 seats, has pledged to back.

All the other parties refuse to work with the AfD under a policy known as the "firewall," and the CDU chairman in the state has advised members of his party to abstain from the vote.

If Rausch is elected, he will become the first AfD speaker of a state parliament in Germany.

However, if he fails to be elected in a first round of voting, all the other parties can put forward their own candidates.

There will be no vote on who will lead the state.

The session will be accompanied by protests by civil society groups who see the AfD, which has been classified as a "confirmed extremist" organization by domestic intelligence in the state, as a danger to Germany's democracy.

DW's newsroom in Bonn wishes all its readers guten Tag as much of Germany continues to experience what is here called a "golden October" of mild, sunny weather.

The new parliament in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt is poised to sit for the first time after elections in September handed a landslide victory to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The session is being watched closely to see whether the AfD succeeds in installing its first speaker in a state parliament in Germany, with the populist BSW party pledging to back the AfD's nomination for the post.

One of Germany's top cultural events, the Frankfurt Book Fair, is also getting underway with preliminary events, including a press conference, before its doors open on Wednesday for specialist visitors.

And Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has warned that the climate crisis could undermine security and fuel new waves of migration as the Berlin Climate and Security Conference kicks off in the capital.

Read on here for more on these and other stories.