Some 100,000 demonstrators are expected on Saturday in Essen, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is holding a two-day congress to elect a new government, police in the western German city predicted.
Authorities expressed concern that while most of the expected demonstrations would be peaceful, about a thousand left-wing extremists would use violent means to disrupt the congress.
About 600 AfD delegates meet in the city’s Grugahalle indoor arena, with current co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are running for re-election ahead of the German parliamentary elections in the fall of next year. No one has come forward to challenge the duo.
Left-wing groups have announced that they plan to block the entrances to the venue tomorrow morning, with the aim of preventing AfD delegates from getting through. Police have made it clear that this will not be tolerated.
Police were heavily deployed near the venue for the congress in Essen on Friday and will be redeployed for the duration, they said. The main protests are planned for Saturday, with a march starting from the central station.
At least 45,000 demonstrators are expected to gather in a parking lot near the conference location on Saturday afternoon.
An important theme of the congress will be the AfD’s campaign in the European Parliament elections, which will take place in early June. In those elections, the party performed less well than pre-election polls had suggested.
The final stages of the campaign were overshadowed by the party’s handling of lead candidate Maximilian Krah, his controversial comments on the Nazi era and possible links between his aide and China.
The AfD was expelled from the Identity and Democracy Group in the European Parliament in response to Krah’s comments about Germany’s wartime SS.
