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A two-day party conference of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) set to begin on Saturday in the eastern city of Erfurt is expected to be met by major protests.<\/p>\n
The anti-migrant AfD became the country’s biggest opposition party after scoring the best result ever for a far-right party in Germany since World War II in last year’s general election.<\/p>\n
The party has been able to further capitalize on the poor approval ratings of the coalition government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which has struggled to present a united front and find swift solutions to Germany’s economic woes.<\/p>\n
However, the AfD remains highly controversial, with all mainstream parties having ruled out cooperation over what they consider the party’s anti-democratic and extremist views, particularly on migration.<\/p>\n
Many want the party banned, while it continues to see growing support elsewhere, eyeing a potential absolute majority in a regional vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt in September, which could see it lead a regional government for the first time.<\/p>\n
At the convention in Erfurt, where AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are expected to be re-elected, police are expecting 50,000 mostly peaceful counter-demonstrators, but also up to 2,500 activists prepared to use violence and set up barricades.<\/p>\n
Several thousand officers from across the country have been deployed to Erfurt to support the local force.<\/p>\n
A group of protest organizations known as the Widersetzen – resist – alliance has announced plans to block access routes to the Erfurt Exhibition Centre in a bid to prevent the party conference from taking place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n