German police are preparing for one of the largest security operations in Thuringia’s history ahead of the Alternative für Deutschland’s (AfD) federal party congress in Erfurt this weekend after an internal threat assessment warning of an elevated risk of violence.
The assessment, obtained by Apollo News, states that police expect most protesters to come from left-wing organisations, civil society groups, and trade unions.
However, the assessment also estimates that around 2,500 left-wing extremists will take part, blending into larger crowds to carry out blockades and other disruptive actions.
The assessment states that this will make it significantly harder for police to distinguish between peaceful protesters and rioters, warning of an increased potential for violence.
Thousands of demonstrators are expected to converge on Erfurt on July 4-5.
Green Party politician and former Vice President of the Bundestag Katrin Göring-Eckardt has encouraged participation in the demonstrations, describing them as a “great festival of democracy.”
Around 190 organisations, including trade unions, left-wing parties, and anti-AfD organisations have backed the mobilisation.
The far-left activist group Widersetzen (Resist) has said it intends to organise mass acts of civil disobedience aimed at blocking access to the venue, while insisting its actions will remain peaceful.
The scale of the planned demonstrations reflects the growing political tensions surrounding the AfD as the party continues to climb in national opinion polls.
Germany’s established parties have become increasingly alarmed by the right-wing, anti-immigration AfD’s electoral success, with some recent opinion polls placing it at around 29% nationally and showing even stronger support in eastern states such as Thuringia.
Rather than engaging the AfD politically, establishment parties have sought to isolate it through a political ‘firewall,’ backing intelligence surveillance of the party, describing it as “extremist,” and, in some cases, calling for it to be banned.
Efforts to block the party’s congress are exactly what the establishment accuses the AfD of being: undemocratic.
AfD MEP Christine Anderson said that party delegates face life-threatening risks, while AfD MP Markus Frohnmaier accused mainstream politicians of ignoring calls by extremists for violence.
Die Welt journalist Anna Schneider argued on X that attempting to prevent a legally organised party congress was “not a great festival of democracy, but its prevention.”
