‘We won’t tolerate this’: thousands in Germany protest against far-right AfD

Thousands of opponents of Germany’s far-right AfD took to the streets of Erfurt on Saturday and blocked roads to the party’s annual conference ahead of regional elections that could see it take power at state level for the first time.

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 annual conference. AfD stands for Alternative for Germany.

Watched by police in riot gear, protesters sat in rows to block highways and roads leading to the convention centre where the meeting is being held. Police estimated around 15,000 people joined demonstrations in and around the eastern city.

“We want ⁠to make it clear that we simply won’t tolerate this, that fascism is on the rise here in Germany,” ‌said Georg Becker, a spokesperson for Widersetzen (“Resist”), an anti-AfD umbrella group.

The conference, where co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are expected to be re-elected, comes ahead of polls ‌in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that the AfD hopes will help pave the ⁠way for success at national ⁠level.