Weidel rails against "hippie madness" - police escort delegates out of bakery

Two days long, the AfD meets in Essen. The focus is on the selection of the leadership. Thousands of demonstrators protest against the event and the party. The police sometimes have to bring the delegates to the assembly site.

Accompanied by sometimes massive protests, the two-day AfD party conference in Essen began. Activists tried to prevent the arrival of delegates. In the vicinity of the venue, the Grugahalle, they occupied streets and intersections. Several hundred people sat on the highways at an autobahn ramp. A spokesperson for the blockade action and the police spoke of thousands of demonstrators.

In the hall, AfD chair Alice Weidel opened the meeting with a barrage of insults against established parties and the Constitutional Protection Agency. "Germany has become a pony farm under the traffic light government," Weidel said in her welcome speech. "Germany is dismantling itself if we don't intervene and finally put an end to this hippie-like madness."

Meanwhile, several Bundestag members reported that they were picked up by the police and taken to the event site. Other delegates arrived unhindered to the Grugahalle. The police had the area extensively secured.

From a bridge, demonstrators shouted, "There is no right to Nazi propaganda." At a crossing, a larger group tried to overcome a police barrier. The police used pepper spray and batons. It is not yet known if demonstrators were injured. Several ambulances were called, said a police spokesperson. In a shopping street, demonstrators positioned themselves in front of a bakery where AfD politicians were present. Forces from an intervention squad had extracted the politicians, said a police spokesperson.

Weidel calls the Constitutional Protection Agency "enemy of the constitution"

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution observes the AfD as a right-wing extremist suspect case - an assessment that the Administrative Court in Münster confirmed in May. Under the applause of her party friends, Weidel scolded: "The Constitutional Protection Agency has become an enemy of the constitution, and it needs to be abolished in this form."

Germany should again become "a land of economic miracles with a clear birth surplus," Weidel said. The new State Citizenship Law with shortened naturalization procedures would cancel out the AfD in case of government participation. The Union has also announced this.

Looking ahead to internal party debates about abolishing the co-leadership, Weidel used a soccer metaphor and spoke of a "trainer duo" in the party leadership. Perhaps she wanted to take the wind out of her party friends' sails who suspect she wants to push Co-Chairman Tino Chrupalla to the side and position herself as the candidate for the Bundestag election.

The expectations are particularly tense regarding Chrupalla's election results. He himself praised the work of the party executive board in the last two years in his speech. Two years ago at the party conference in Riesa, Chrupalla received only 53 percent, Weidel 63 percent. "We are number one in the east," Chrupalla said. Since Riesa, the way "has been steadily upward."

Further protests planned in the afternoon

The AfD will choose a new executive board during their two-day party conference. Both Weidel and Chrupalla have announced their intention to run again. In the European election on June 9, the AfD received 15.9 percent of the votes, falling short of their own expectations. The AfD may have been affected by reports about the Potsdam meeting on so-called re-migration, new competition from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), and allegations against their lead candidate Maximilian Krah, who had been making headlines for weeks due to suspected Russia and China connections.

A peaceful protest had already taken place on Friday evening under the slogan "Bass against Hate". According to police estimates, around 5000 people attended the Rave Demonstration. At a central gathering in the afternoon, speakers include Essen Mayor Thomas Kufen, Evonik Board Chairman Christian Kullmann, and the President of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Anna-Nicole Heinrich. From the late afternoon onwards, music programming is planned.

The focus of the two-day AfD party conference in Essen is on the selection of the party's leadership, but it is accompanied by massive protests.
The police had to ensure the safe arrival of delegates at the Grugahalle due to protests by activists aiming to prevent their arrival.
During the event, AfD chair Alice Weidel criticized established parties and the Constitutional Protection Agency as a "pony farm" and an "enemy of the constitution."
Bundestag members reported being picked up by the police and taken to the event site, while other delegates managed to reach the Grugahalle unhindered.
Demonstrations against the AfD event resulted in clashes with the police, with pepper spray and batons being used to disperse protesters trying to overcome police barriers.
Tino Chrupalla, another Bundestag member and co-chair of the AfD, praised the work of the party executive board in his speech and expressed optimism about his election results.
Further protests are planned in the afternoon of the party conference, with Essen Mayor Thomas Kufen, Evonik Board Chairman Christian Kullmann, and the President of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany scheduled to speak.