Thousands protest against far-right German party
Thousands of people protested against Germany’s far-right AfD party, blocking roads leading to its annual conference, where the party re-elected two leaders who oversaw its rise as a national force.
Protesters from unions, civil society groups and left-wing parties gathered in the eastern city of Erfurt, where large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed ahead of the AfD’s two-day conference. AfD stands for Alternative for Germany.
Protesters, watched by police in riot gear, sat in rows to block highways and roads leading to the convention center where the meeting was being held.
Police estimated that around 15,000 people attended demonstrations in and around the east of the city on Saturday.
The AfD kicked off this event by re-electing party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla; Under their leadership, the AfD came first in national opinion polls, ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives.
In opening statements, protesters were mocked and accused of being undemocratic. While they reveled in the AfD’s rise, which would see it come to power for the first time in regional elections in 2026, they portrayed their mainstream rivals as tired, out of touch and leading Germany into decline.
“Because this remains our last chance to save our country,” Weidel said. “More and more people in this country want to support us in our fight for our homeland and our identity against the decline of Germany.”
The song “Send them back”, which highlights the party’s hard-line stance on immigration, was played on the AfD’s social media feed minutes before the congress began.
Vintage-style cards with the slogan “You will be deported” were on sale at the convention center.
The fact that the conference took place ahead of elections in two eastern states that the AfD hopes will help pave the way for success at the national level has alarmed its rivals.
“We want to make it clear that we will absolutely not tolerate this, that fascism is on the rise in Germany,” said Georg Becker, spokesman for Widersetzen (“Resist”), the anti-AfD umbrella group behind the Erfurt protests.
