Thousands protest against far-right AfD party convention

The far right Alternative for Germany party faced thousands of protesters in the western German city of Essen as it hosted a weekend convention. Reelected party leader Alice Vidal said the northern European country was in desperate need for political shake up. Party membership has grown significantly since 2023, Afd officials said this support tracks with recent European parliamentary election results showing the political group garnered the second highest amount of German votes. Afd polled well ahead of Chancellor Olaf Schultz's Social Democrats. I believe that not everything has been done correctly from all the parties, from all democratic parties. But we have to show that we work together. The problems are so complex, so when it comes to migration and climate change and poverty, that people, yeah, just believe the easy answer. But the answers aren't very easy most of the times. This conference is so controversial that the city tried to stop it. It tried to cancel the rental contract for the building where the conference is taking place, saying it was concerned that criminal offenses could happen, such as the use of Nazi slogans. But the Afd sued and won. The protest reached fever pitch when several demonstrators tried to block roads and clashed with police, with several officers injured, according to local authorities. Although the Afd has made gains within European Parliament, the party has also been plagued by high profile scandals and criminal allegations. Anti Afd protest organisers believe their demonstrations are helping shift public opinion. We've seen that those protests that we've been organising here and over the last six months. Have succeeded and that's what we're here for, to convince them that there are other solutions than voting for the Afd. The Afd offers short term solutions, but they do not think about the problems that come with it. They offer simple solutions that seem easy at the beginning, but if you think about it in the long term, they're not going to work. The next critical local German elections are due to be held in the countries east in September, a locale that has traditionally favoured Afd. Good. More.