AfD’s new state MPs include ex‑Stasi officer, former porn actor, neopagans and neo‑Nazis

AfD presented its 39 incoming Saxony-Anhalt MPs in Magdeburg under lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund, and media scrutiny has highlighted several controversial backgrounds. German outlets reported a 78-year-old former Stasi officer who admitted working for the East German secret police won a direct mandate in his constituency. One MP was confirmed by a court to have appeared in pornography, was convicted of stealing hotel bedding in bulk, and was expelled from university after falsifying his school leaving certificate, Die Zeit reported. Two MPs face investigations for allegedly seeking to continue the banned neopagan group Artgemeinschaft and one of those is also accused of weapons law violations; both deny the allegations. A ZDF investigation found past ties among some prospective AfD ministers to the outlawed Homeland Loyal German Youth HDJ and other rightwing extremist networks, and several MPs have been linked to pro-Kremlin positions and visits to Maga movement members in Washington. Siegmund called the two under investigation "the bad guys" and said the party would await the results of probes, while his own remarks linking German arms production to a planned deportation offensive provoked fierce criticism. Campaign groups representing victims of the former East German dictatorship and other critics have challenged the suitability of these MPs as AfD moves to try to form a state government in Saxony-Anhalt.