The far-right Alternative for Germany vaulted into second place on Sunday after about a fifth of voters cast their ballot for a party that’s called for a halt to migration and assailed the country’s political establishment.

Germany’s political system is set up to exclude extremists. Yet the country is waking up to a new political reality that has lurched to the right with the once outcast Alternative for Germany (AfD) party now firmly established in German politics.

The success of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is a sign of the times. Across Europe, far-right parties once on the fringe have gone mainstream.