Mass protests in Germany fail to stop far-right AfD congress
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The stand-off in the city of Erfurt comes as the opposition Alternative for Germany party is soaring in national opinion polls ahead of all other parties.
PHOTO: AFP
- About 20,000 protesters gathered in Erfurt to block roads and disrupt transport, aiming to stop the far-right AfD party's annual congress.
- Protesters accused the AfD of spreading hate and called for a ban, citing Germany's Nazi past and warning against a right-wing shift.
- The AfD leads national polls and aims for power in 2026 state elections, causing concern among mainstream parties and German leaders.
AI generated
ERFURT, Germany – Tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded a German city on July 4, blocking major roads and disrupting public transport, but failed to halt a congress of the far-right AfD party.
Many Alternative for Germany (AfD) delegates arrived at the conference centre in Erfurt in the early hours, before protesters set up their blockades and the event opened on time.
Protesters flocked from across Germany to join largely peaceful demonstrations against the party, which is topping national opinion polls. Police said around 31,000 took part, while organisers said there were at least 50,000.
They blocked multiple routes into the eastern city, in Thuringia state, with some abseiling from a motorway bridge. Several groups staged sit-in blockades around the city centre, according to AFP journalists.
The city authorities reported numerous disruptions to bus and subway services.
“It’s important to send a signal against the shift to the right,” demonstrator Lene Krug, 19, from Gera, east of Erfurt, told AFP.
“The AfD is an anti-democratic party that spreads hate.”
Another protester, Ella, was among a group who stuck themselves to tram tracks in a city square.
“1933 to 1945 must never happen again,” said the 44-year-old, who only gave one name, referring to the period when the Nazis were in power.
“The democratic parties need to understand that they must impose a ban (on the AfD).”
As the day drew on, protesters lifted the blockades and marched towards the congress centre.
Thousands of police have been deployed for the two-day congress.
Despite fears of violence, the protests had been largely peaceful, although police said they used pepper-spray during isolated clashes.
The AfD’s rapid rise has unnerved many Germans, who feel they have a special duty to fight far-right politics, given Germany’s dark Nazi past.
Some have seen a deliberate provocation in the AfD holding its Erfurt conference on the 100th anniversary of a Nazi conference in nearby Weimar, a charge the AfD denies.
Alice Weidel, one of the AfD’s co-leaders, rejected claims that the party was anti-democratic, insisting: “We are the new people’s party in Germany.”
“The AfD is ready to take responsibility because we, because the Germans, because Germany deserves to be governed well,” she told the congress.
The party is eyeing power for the first time as state elections loom in Germany’s former communist east, its electoral heartland.
Polls indicate it could win an absolute majority in September polls in Saxony-Anhalt state.
Nationwide, the party has been at or near the top of polls since national elections held last year, when it came second with 20 per cent of the vote, behind Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s centre-right CDU/CSU bloc.
Tino Chrupalla, one of the AfD’s co-leaders, echoed Weidel’s message.
“Perhaps we’ll soon be able to govern on our own,” he added, referring to the state polls.
“That would be the right signal to the democracy-despisers out there who wanted to stop our party conference.”
Weidel and Chrupalla were re-elected as the party co-leaders on Saturday for another two years, as expected.
Weidel received 81 per cent of the vote and Chrupalla 70 per cent – a reversal from the previous ballot two years ago, when Chrupalla won more votes.
Merz has made it his mission to reverse the rise of the AfD, which has been locked out of power as all other parties have refused to cooperate with it.
The AfD says it is a conservative force occupying the space once held by Merz’s Christian Democrats before former chancellor Angela Merkel a decade ago allowed millions of refugees and asylum seekers into Germany.
But critics point to AfD politicians downplaying Nazi crimes and links to banned right-wing extremist groups.
Bjoern Hoecke – considered one of the AfD’s most radical figures – had pushed a controversial motion at this weekend’s congress to revise the party’s so-called “incompatibility list”.
The list sets out which extremist groups AfD members cannot belong to.
But apparently under pressure from party leaders, Hoecke withdrew the motion. Weidel, however, vowed the party would revise the list within a year. AFP
