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Thousands tried to block delegates from attending the meeting where Alice Weidel was selected as the Alternative for Germany candidate for chancellor in next month's election.
Thousands of protesters chanting “No to Nazis” gathered in the German city of Riza, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party held a key congress endorsing one of its leaders, Alice Weidel, as its candidate for chancellor in next month's snap election.
The meeting, which drew about 600 delegates on Saturday, ended up starting two hours behind schedule after police cleared thousands of protesters who had blockaded the AfD stronghold city in the eastern state of Saxony.
Protest organizers, who said 12,000 people from across the country turned out for the demonstration, said police beat groups of demonstrators and used pepper spray to disperse them.
Maria Schmidt, a spokeswoman for the protest organizers, said: “Today we stand up for people's right to live in safety, without fear of deportation or attack.
“We are all making it clear: Riza is not a peaceful place for fascism,” she said.
Police said around 8,000 demonstrators gathered outside the city's convention center. Late in the morning, a spokesman said there were no “serious disturbances” but one road to Riza remained blocked by protesters.
As the convention opened at the convention center, Weidel congratulated his party colleagues for “refuting the leftist crowd,” while party co-leader Tino Hrupala accused the demonstrators of behaving like “anti-democrats and terrorists.”
“Re-emigration”
Analysts say Weidel – who this week was endorsed by tech billionaire Elon Musk in a live chat on X – has no realistic chance of becoming Germany's leader in the February 23 election.
While polls put the far-right party in second place, attracting the support of around 20 percent of the electorate, other parties refused to work with it.
At the AfD's two-day meeting, delegates will finalize the party's election programme, with one proposed amendment committing the party to a policy of “remigration” – meaning a wide-ranging campaign to expel foreigners from Germany.
The party leadership's plans to replace its youth wing Junge Alternative, which has been classified as an extremist group by intelligence services, have also caused controversy.
The draft version of the manifesto also includes a pledge to leave the euro and reverse Germany's nuclear phase-out.
“Let's Fight”
Friedrich Merz, a candidate for the main conservative opposition bloc Union, who leads the polls with around 30 percent, is currently favored to become the next chancellor.
The union is focused on boosting Germany's stagnant economy and reducing illegal migration.
At a press conference in Hamburg, Merz focused on bringing about “fundamental change” after the unpopular and controversial coalition of centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed in November.
Scholz's coalition government collapsed after he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revive the economy, leading to snap elections.
Scholz acknowledged Saturday that mistakes were made, but said it was time to look to the future.
“Let us fight,” he told delegates at a party congress in Berlin, which officially confirmed his nomination as its candidate by a show of hands.
