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FRANCE PERSPECTIVE
AFD CONGRESS IN ERFURT: GERMANY TAKES TO THE STREETS AGAINST THE FAR RIGHT
DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris reads a decisive moment in German politics at Erfurt: the AfD openly claims power while tens of thousands of Germans attempted to physically block the congress.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
ANALYSIS
Paris, July 5, 2026. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) federal congress took place in Erfurt, in the eastern part of the country, on Saturday, July 4, despite large-scale mobilization. Police counted 31,000 protesters — organizers of the "Resistance" alliance claimed 50,000 — but the congress began as scheduled: most delegates managed to reach the convention center despite massive roadway blockades.
Protesters, who arrived in bus convoys from several German cities, occupied city center squares and blocked access to the agglomeration. Some even rappelled down from a highway bridge. The "Resistance" alliance intended to physically prevent the congress from taking place. "It is important to send a signal against the drift to the right," Lene Krug, 19, from Gera, told AFP at her first-ever protest. "The AfD is an antidemocratic party that spreads hatred," she added. Others carried direct references to the Nazi period: "1933 to 1945 must never happen again."
Thousands of police had been deployed for the occasion. A few scuffles were reported, but the demonstrations proceeded largely peacefully. Andreas Horn, CDU mayor of Erfurt, had reminded observers the day before: "Expressing opinions is legitimate... violence and vandalism are not."
Inside the convention center, the AfD displayed a starkly different atmosphere. Delegates reelected Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla as party co-chairs. Weidel took the opportunity to place her most radical supporters in key leadership positions. Her message from the podium: "We pursue politics for Germans; others act against our country's interests."
Thirteen years after its founding, the AfD no longer settles for radical opposition alone. The party approaches 30% in German polls and targets the Saxony-Anhalt region in elections scheduled for September — which would mark a first for the far right since 1945 in Germany. "We will govern, in one region first and all of Germany next," Tino Chrupalla declared from the podium.
This ambition collides with a cordon sanitaire maintained at the federal level by all other parties, which refuse any coalition with the AfD. A structural challenge the party must overcome to transform its electoral scores into actual participation in power, with the next federal elections scheduled three years away.
KEY POINTS
- Police counted 31,000 protesters at Erfurt on July 4, with organizers of the "Resistance" alliance claiming 50,000; the AfD congress nonetheless began as scheduled.
- Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla were reelected as co-chairs, with Weidel placing her most radical supporters in key leadership positions; the AfD approaches 30% in German polling.
- Tino Chrupalla declared from the podium: 'We will govern, in one region first and all of Germany next,' targeting notably the Saxony-Anhalt region in September 2026.
COGNITIVE BIASES IDENTIFIED
Historical memory framing: French coverage heavily emphasizes references to the 1933-1945 period, anchoring the mobilization in an antifascist register.
Preference for protest voices: quotations from protesters are more numerous and developed than those from AfD delegates or leaders.
Limited electoral analysis: the reasons why approximately 30% of respondents support the AfD receive limited in-depth examination in the coverage.
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