Thousands of Germans protested against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and blocked roads leading to the party's annual conference in Erfurt Saturday, where delegates re-elected the leadership that has overseen its rise as a major national political force.
Protesters from unions, civil society groups and left-wing parties gathered as large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed ahead of the AfD's two-day conference.
Watched by police in riot gear, protesters sat in rows to block highways and roads leading to the convention center where the meeting is being held. Police estimated around 15,000 people joined demonstrations in and around the eastern city.
The AfD launched the event by re-electing party chiefs Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, under whose leadership the AfD has surged to the top of national opinion polls ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives.
The opening speeches mocked and lambasted the protesters as anti-democratic. They revelled in the AfD's rise that could see the party taking power in regional elections this year for the first time, while painting their mainstream rivals as tired, out of touch and leading Germany into decline.
