Members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) confirmed the current leadership at a party conference held as huge crowds of protesters clashed with a large contingent of police, leaving dozens of officers injured.
The AfD came second in the European Parliament elections earlier this month and is preparing for parliamentary elections in three eastern German states, where the anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic party appears to have a lead in the polls.
“We are number one in the east,” said AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla declared to delegates gathered Saturday for the two-day event in the western city of Essen. “We want to win these elections, and we want to expand and maintain this position.”
Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD, attacked Germany’s centre-left coalition government, domestic security services and recent reforms to Germany’s nationality law in a speech to nearly 600 delegates at the Grugahalle in Essen.
She claimed that the country has “devolved into a horse farm” and warned that “Germany will destroy itself if we don’t get our act together and finally put an end to this woke hippie madness.”
Weidel received loud applause from AfD members when she said it was in the interest of Germany and Europe “that Ukraine does not belong to the European Union and to Europe.”
Two more years to go AfDs leaders
Chrupalla and Weidel were both re-elected on Saturday afternoon for another two-year term as co-leaders of the party, with both running unopposed and receiving a large majority of delegates.
Chrupalla received 82.72% of the votes, a significantly better result than at the last party congress two years ago, when he received only 53.4% of the AfD delegates.
“I’m really a bit overwhelmed,” Chrupalla said after his election. Chrupalla, a craftsman from the eastern state of Saxony, has been co-chair of the AfD since November 2019.
The AfD has become nationally politically relevant in Germany during that period, and Chrupalla noted a promise he made two years ago to make the party stronger than ever.
“I kept my word,” he said, vowing that the AfD would change Germany and turn the country upside down.
Weidel’s election result was slightly weaker than Chrupalla’s: she received 79.77% of the vote, compared to 67.3% two years ago, when she was first elected party leader.
Party growing, looking ahead
Chrupalla said he was confident ahead of state elections to be held in September in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, all in the former East Germany. “The sun must rise for us in the east when it comes to government accountability,” he said.
Chrupalla highlighted the successes of the leadership duo and said he and Weidel put an end to the struggle that divided the party.
He also pointed to the party’s growth, saying the AfD now has 46,881 members, 17,723 more than at the beginning of 2023.
Dozens of police officers injured in major protests
According to Essen police, around 28 police officers were injured in clashes between police and counter-protesters on Saturday evening, one seriously.
They said that since Friday evening, several tens of thousands of people had joined a total of 32 counter-demonstrations. Most demonstrated peacefully, although larger groups of people, sometimes numbering several hundred, repeatedly tried to block AfD delegates from attending the congress or to break through barriers.
“As part of these violent actions, our colleagues had to repeatedly use batons and irritating gas,” police said.
One police officer suffered serious head injuries after escorting a politician through a crowd of activists protesting against Congress.
Unknown assailants kicked two officers in the head after forcing them to the ground, a police statement said. They were taken to hospital, where one of them was found to be seriously injured. Seven other officers were less seriously injured. The attackers were able to escape into the crowd.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser condemned the attacks. “We need strong democratic forces and peaceful protest against right-wing extremism and racism. Violence cannot be justified,” she wrote on X.
Some protesters were also injured by the use of pepper spray, but it was initially unclear how many protesters were injured.
The city of Essen had been trying for months to prevent the AfD from holding the two-day party congress there, but ultimately failed in court.
