US EditionThousands of protesters gather as German right-wing party sets up new youth organization
AfD reboots its youth wing under closer party control amid protests blocking roads; organizers expect up to 50,000 counter-demonstrators, police deployed 6,000 officers.
- On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Giessen as the Alternative for Germany prepared to set up a new youth organization at Giessen's convention center.
- After dissolving the Young Alternative at the end of March, AfD moved to form Generation Germany, seeking closer oversight following its predecessor's extremist classification by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.
- Groups of protesters blocked or tried to block roads in and around Giessen, city of some 93,000 people, in the early morning, and police used pepper spray after stones were thrown at officers at one location.
- AfD's rising poll numbers come as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition struggles to impress voters; the party finished second in the February national election with over 20% of the vote and is now the biggest opposition.
- It is typical for German parties to have youth wings, which tend to be more radical, and AfD's 2017 national parliament entry on migration issues means its new youth group could reshape mobilisation in recent years.
76 Articles
76 Articles
While the founding meeting of the new AfD youth organization is taking place in the German town of Gießen under massive protests, entrepreneurs warn the party: "The AfD does not offer companies and the population a real policy offer."
An action alliance in Gießen wants to prevent the establishment of the new AfD youth organization. Indeed, numerous high-ranking party members were detained outside the city.
The AfD's former youth wing was disbanded in February after the security service threatened to ban it due to its far-right ideology.
der Standard AT
der Standard DETens of thousands of demonstrators want to block the founding of the AfD party youth at the weekend in the German Central Hessen. Congress participants arrive only slowly, there were also clashes.
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