Riot police in Erfurt, central Germany, clashed with opponents of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party on Saturday as thousands of protesters attempted to block roads and prevent delegates from attending the party's biennial national conference to elect its leadership.
20,000 protesters face off against police
Police reported 20,000 demonstrators in the eastern city, where Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are expected to be re-elected as co-leaders ahead of crucial regional elections in which the AfD could win state-level power for the first time. The protesters, led by the “Resistance” alliance, staged sit-in blockades in the city centre, with some abseiling from a motorway bridge and others gluing themselves to tram tracks to cause disruption.
Thousands of police were deployed, and some were filmed using batons on protesters who ran toward them, while others struggled to hold back crowds. However, a police spokesperson told Die Zeit the demonstration had been “mostly peaceful,” with just under 100 offences recorded, many involving property damage by graffiti.
AfD delegates reach conference despite disruptions
Despite the protests, an AfD spokesperson said 540 delegates had reached the conference centre before 5am and the congress began on time. The party's decision to hold the conference on the centennial of a Nazi party conference in nearby Weimar—where Adolf Hitler unveiled the Hitler Youth and introduced the Hitler salute—has sparked outrage. Historians and politicians call the timing a deliberate provocation, which the AfD denies, accusing critics of “the compulsive weaponisation of history.”
Opponents decry AfD policies
Opponents accuse the AfD of promoting racist and anti-Muslim policies and downplaying Nazi crimes. Among the protesters were federal environment minister Carsten Schneider and Thuringia's interior minister Georg Maier, who joined a second demonstration by the Standing Together alliance, where the “Grandmas Against the Right” waved signs. “It's important to send a signal against the shift to the right,” said Lene Krug, 19, from Gera. “The AfD is an anti-democratic party that spreads hate.” Another protester glued to tram tracks said: “1933 to 1945 must never happen again.” Ella, 44, added: “The democratic parties need to understand that they must impose a ban [on the AfD].”
Chrupalla defends party conference
In his opening speech, Chrupalla accused demonstrators of protesting “against democratic decision-making.” He said: “They believe they have a monopoly on democracy. To these demonstrators I say: this democracy is just as much our democracy as it is yours.” Holding party conferences is a “guaranteed right,” he added, calling the protesters “the last line of defence for our political competition.” He urged supporters to help the party win an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt state elections, describing his dual leadership with Weidel as “a successful duo the likes of which German politics has rarely seen.”
