‘We won’t tolerate this’: thousands in Germany protest against far-right AfD
The party’s annual conference comes ahead of state elections the AfD hopes will help pave the way for success at national level
Thousands of demonstrators flooded a German city on Saturday, blocking major roads and disrupting public transport, in a bid to shut down the annual congress of the far-right AfD party.
About 20,000 people flocked to Erfurt, in Thuringia state, according to police, to protest against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that tops national opinion polls.
The protesters, led by an alliance dubbed “Resistance”, blocked routes into the city, with some abseiling from a motorway bridge. Several groups staged sit-in blockades around the city centre.
But most AfD delegates managed to reach the conference centre where the congress began on time.
“It’s important to send a signal against the shift to the right,” demonstrator Lene Krug, 19, from Gera, east of Erfurt, told reporters.
“The AfD is an anti-democratic party that spreads hate.”