Protesters, police clash at start of far-right AfD congress in Essen
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In the recent European Parliament elections in Germany, the AfD secured a notable second-place position, marking a substantial improvement from its 2019 performance.
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Protesters take part in a demonstration outside the venue of Grugahalle against the congress of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Essen on June 29, 2024. (AFP)
Germany's far-right AfD reaffirmed its desire to ascend to power in Germany as its party conference began Saturday with clashes between protestors and police, just weeks after it achieved record EU election results.
Approximately 1,000 police officers were deployed in the western city of Essen, where demonstrators reported 50,000 people marched toward the congress.
Tino Chrupalla, co-president of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), told about 600 delegates attending the two-day gathering, "We want to govern, first in the east (of Germany), then in the west, then at federal level."
Police reported that 11 policemen were wounded and the police in North Westphalia, which includes Essen, announced on X that some demonstrators attacked security forces.
Tens of thousands of Antifa members and their leftist supporters mobilized today in Essen, Germany to try to shut down the @AfD Party conference.
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) June 29, 2024
Police had to use batons and pepper spray to repeal them when they tried rushing the building.
The AfD is a popular right-wing… pic.twitter.com/H8Y8tf6wLf
In the recent European Parliament elections in Germany, the AfD secured a notable second-place position, marking a substantial improvement from its 2019 performance.
The party advocates for stricter immigration controls and seeks a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine, among other policy objectives.
The AfD congress takes place ahead of three critical elections in September in states that were previously part of communist East Germany, where the AfD has been leading opinion polls.
"We are here and we will stay," declared party co-president Alice Weidel, opening the congress to resounding applause and maintaining that "like all political parties," the AfD has a right to hold a congress.
Weidel and Chrupalla were re-elected as party leaders for another two years.
German AfD lawmaker says attempt to ban is political, out of fear
AfD member of parliament Eugene Schmidt told Sputnik that the attempt to outlaw the right-wing AfD party is an anti-democratic process that shows the fear of the German political elite, especially after its performance in the 2024 European Parliament elections.
Earlier this week, German politician Marco Wanderwitz declared that he had persuaded a sufficient number of German parliamentarians to file a move to outlaw the AfD due to purported affiliations with far-right extremists.
If the Bundestag goes ahead with the proposal, the Federal Constitutional Court would have to decide whether to consider the AfD's potential ban.
Schmidt said, "It is unknown whether this plan will succeed, but the attempt to ban a democratically elected party, which enjoys enormous support in Germany, demonstrates the anti-democratic attitude of the establishment. At the same time, it shows its desperation: apparently they cannot find any other way to fight the AfD other than to ban it."
He added that Wanderwitz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has garnered support from The Greens to oust the AfD.
In recent years, the AfD has been entangled in several controversies, including a secret gathering of senior leaders to prepare mass deportation of immigrants, casting doubt on the party's adherence to democratic norms.
Since 2021, Germany's domestic intelligence service has been monitoring the AfD's youth wing and different affiliates.
