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Thousands of protesters gathered in the western German city of Giessen on Saturday as the far-right Alternative for Germany’s new youth organization prepared to launch its founding conference.
Groups of protesters blocked or attempted to block roads in and around the city of about 93,000 people in the early morning. Police He said at one point officers used pepper spray after rocks were thrown at them.
The new anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, youth organization will be founded at a meeting in the convention center of Giessen. Its predecessor, Young Alternative – a largely autonomous group with relatively loose ties to the party – was dissolved in late March after the AfD decided to formally break ties with it.
The AfD wants to keep a close eye on the new group, which is expected to be called Generation Germany. The party came second in Germany’s national election in February with more than 20% of the vote and is now the country’s largest opposition party. It continues to rise in the surveys as Chancellor Friedrich MerzThe coalition government has failed to impress the voters.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency had concluded that Young Alternative was a proven right-wing extremist group. It later classified the AfD itself as such a group, but the designation was suspended after the AfD launched a legal challenge.
It is common for German parties to have youth wings, which are generally more politically radical than mainstream parties.
The AfD portrays itself as an anti-establishment force at a time of low trust in politicians. It first entered the national parliament in 2017 due to discontent over the arrival of large numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s, and curbing migration remains its signature theme. But it has shown a knack for capitalizing on discontent on other issues in recent years, too.