Thousands protested against Germany’s far-right AfD and blocked roads ​to its annual conference in the eastern city of Erfurt on Saturday, where the party re-elected the two leaders who have overseen ‌its rise as a national force.

Protesters from unions, civil society groups and left-wing parties gathered as large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed ahead of the AfD’s two-day conference. AfD stands for Alternative for Germany.

Watched by police in riot gear, protesters sat in rows to block highways and roads leading to the convention centre where the ​meeting is being held. Police estimated around 15,000 people joined demonstrations in and around the eastern city.

The AfD launched the event by re-electing ​party chiefs Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, under whose leadership the AfD has surged to the top of national opinion ⁠polls ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives.

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