BERLIN
Germany’s anti-immigrant AfD party wrapped up its two-day congress in the eastern city of Erfurt on Sunday, with co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla easily securing re-election amid large-scale protests by anti-far-right groups.
Police reported that more than 30,000 demonstrators turned out on Saturday, the first day of the congress, while smaller groups continued protesting in the city center on Sunday. Among them was the group Omas gegen Rechts (Grannies Against the Far-Right).
Thuringian state police described the weekend protests as “mostly peaceful” despite the large crowds. Authorities said they had recorded 65 criminal offenses by midday Sunday, mostly linked to smaller radical factions among the protesters.
Delegates re-elected Weidel and Chrupalla as the party’s co-leaders, unopposed, for another two-year term. Weidel received 81.3% of the vote, a slight improvement over 2024, while Chrupalla garnered about 70%, down from 83%.
The AfD, the largest opposition party in the German parliament, is under surveillance by the domestic intelligence agency over suspicions of anti-democratic and anti-constitutional tendencies.
After a years-long investigation, the agency determined that the party pursues a far-right nationalist agenda that threatens Germany’s democratic order. It particularly flagged the party’s definition of citizenship based on “ethnicity and ancestry” as incompatible with constitutional principles.
Despite the controversies and ongoing monitoring, the AfD has seen its popularity surge. The latest Insa poll released this weekend showed the party widening its lead over Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right CDU/CSU alliance, with support at 29%. The CDU/CSU bloc slipped to 21%, while its coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), stood at 13%.
