Alternative for Germany (AfD) re-elected its co-leaders, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, on Saturday at a federal congress in Erfurt, Thuringia, as large-scale protests sought to prevent the gathering. Ms Weidel secured 81 per cent of delegate votes and Mr Chrupalla 70 per cent, according to party announcements. The congress, which the party said began on schedule, took place amid an estimated 31,000 anti-AfD demonstrators—organisers claimed up to 50,000—who blocked roads and motorways, leading to some scuffles with police. Despite the disruptions, the leadership vote proceeded normally by mid-morning, with many delegates arriving before dawn under police escort.

From the podium, both leaders framed the party’s mission in polarised terms. Ms Weidel described the congress as “the last chance to save our country” and pledged “rigorous deportation” of irregular migrants and criminals. Mr Chrupalla accused the counter-demonstrators—drawn from trade unions, left-wing groups and civic alliances—of being the “last resort of political rivals” and asserted that the AfD would soon “govern alone”. The protesters, for their part, denounced the party as anti-democratic and pointed to the historical symbolism of the date: the congress fell on the centenary of a Nazi party rally in nearby Weimar, though AfD officials denied any intentional link. In Russian state-linked media, President Vladimir Putin had earlier attributed the AfD’s rise to its ability to “clearly formulate the interests of the German people and economy”, while US conservative outlets portrayed the demonstrations as a “far-left” attempt to suppress a political opponent.

The gathering highlighted the AfD’s electoral momentum ahead of key regional votes on 6 September in Saxony-Anhalt and two weeks later in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. National opinion polls place the party at roughly 29 per cent, ahead of the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and in Saxony-Anhalt it could win an absolute majority—a breakthrough that would mark the first far-right regional government in post-war Germany. Mainstream parties maintain a so-called “firewall” (Brandmauer) against coalitions with the AfD, but the party’s rising support is testing that consensus. In May 2025, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency designated the entire AfD a right-wing extremist organisation, a classification the party contests as a political instrument used by establishment rivals.

Inside the congress hall, internal frictions surfaced. Björn Höcke, the Thuringia state leader who is among the party’s most controversial figures, withdrew a motion to revise the list of groups incompatible with party membership, a move seen as a tactical retreat under national leadership pressure. Mr Chrupalla’s lower vote share compared with previous contests reflected lingering discontent over his handling of foreign policy and a family employment affair. The event closed with a commitment to review the incompatibility list next year, indicating that the internal debate over the party’s radical flank is postponed rather than resolved. The next formal step is the two regional elections in September, which will test whether the AfD can translate its national poll leads into executive power.