Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party kicked off its election campaign after a two-hour delay caused by left-wing protesters who demonstrated outside, clashing with police.
The two-day event that started on Saturday is being held in the town of Riesa in the eastern state of Saxony, an AfD stronghold, now the second-largest political party in Germany, according to polling. Alice Weidel was elected as the party's candidate for chancellor in the elections scheduled for February 23.
Supporters of the German far-right AfD Party after seeing polling showing the party's public support
(Video: Reuters)
The AfD platform is to be revealed in the conference. It will call for diminished support for Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion, a demand that Germany leave the EU and the resumption of nuclear energy production along with harsher laws restricting immigration.
Weidel had called for a mass deportation of immigrants from Germany, even those who were already German citizens.
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Protesters clash with police outside the AfD Party conference on Saturday
(Photo: Matthias Rietschel / Reuters)
Weidel is considered an outsider in the male-dominated party. She is a lesbian who is raising two children in Switzerland with her partner, an immigrant from Sri Lanka. She recently received massive support from American tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk in posts on his platform X.
In an online chat with Musk, Weidel said Hitler had come from the left and that the AfD was in no way connected to him. When pushed by Musk, she expressed support for Israel's right to exist and defend itself.
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The AfD has taken encouragement from political events in neighboring Austria where the ruling coalition, formed to block the participation of the far-right Freedom Party, fell and the president tasked the party with forming a new government.
Weidel is unlikely to become chancellor in the next elections although events in Austria could serve as a source for optimism.