The party conference is taking place at a politically charged moment for the AfD, which leads national polling at about 28 percent support, ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats at about 22 percent. Party conferences are the AfD’s highest decision-making gatherings, where delegates set the group’s direction, shape its program and make key personnel decisions ahead of election campaigns.
The stakes are especially high this year. In September, the AfD has a strong chance of winning a plurality in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern — two races that could further test Germany’s political firewall against the far right.
Police believe violent activists could use the much larger protest crowds in Erfurt as cover to attack officers and disrupt the conference.
Police in the Thuringia region around Erfurt confirmed they expected an exceptionally large protest operation, including coordinated attempts to block access routes to the exhibition grounds where the conference will take place. The force declined to comment on the estimate of 2,500 violent extremists, citing operational security.
Crucially, the internal assessment says the police’s original worst-case scenario is now considered potentially realistic. Officers expect up to 30 blockade points around the venue, and warn that violent groups could embed themselves within otherwise peaceful demonstrations before launching attacks on police officers, vehicles and barriers.
Police say the nationwide protest network Widersetzen (“Resist”), which advocates mass civil disobedience and blockade tactics, has helped drive the mobilization alongside trade unions, church groups, climate activists and anti-fascist organizations. Authorities are also assessing calls posted on the far-left platform Indymedia, urging activists from Italy, France and Switzerland to travel to Erfurt.
The AfD’s previous federal conference in Riesa, Saxony was also hit by clashes between police and anti-AfD demonstrators.
The Axel Springer Global Reporters Network harnesses the resources of the company’s newsrooms to publish ambitious scoops, investigations, interviews, opinion pieces and analysis. It allows journalists — including those from POLITICO, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, Onet and Fakt — to collaborate on major stories for an international audience of hundreds of millions across platforms: online, print, TV and audio.