Clashes and injuries during a protest against the AfD party congress

At a demonstration against the AfD party conference in Offenburg, there were serious clashes between participants and the police. According to the police, five people were injured - three officers and two participants. Three of them - a police officer and the two participants - were then examined at the hospital. In the meantime, there was a fire at one point - 20 officers were slightly injured, but remained on duty.

The AfD Baden-Württemberg gathered on Saturday in the Baden city with several hundred members for their state party conference. The meeting should end on Sunday.

The law enforcement officers took personal details from more than 100 people at the demonstration. It will be checked whether part of the group is being investigated for criminal offenses. During the clashes, a person sprayed several police officers with a fire extinguisher.

As a dpa reporter reported, officials used batons against demonstrators to stop the protest march. At the same time, the participants were asked via loudspeaker to remain peaceful. A red banner read: "No place for the AfD."

According to the police, around 1,200 people had previously demonstrated peacefully in the city center and at the exhibition center where the AfD meeting took place. At a rally, the state chairwoman of the GEW education union, Monika Stein, described the AfD as a “danger to democracy”. Spokeswoman Jenny Holzer from the alliance "Stand up against racism Offenburg" said on request: "It was a peaceful and colorful demonstration." She spoke of around 1400 to 1500 participants.

The AfD in the southwest postponed a major change in the statutes to the upcoming party congress due to internal resistance. This should take place in the coming year, as co-state chairman Emil Sänze said in passing. The project for the new statutes involves, among other things, introducing an additional control body in the state association. The topic caused sometimes chaotic debates at the meeting. Sänze admitted that not all rifts had been overcome in the party. For years, a power struggle raged among the AfD MPs in the south-west between moderate forces and supporters of the right-wing fringe.

The other co-chair, Markus Frohnmaier, said they advocated sticking to nuclear power plants. According to a decision by the federal government, the last three nuclear power plants in Germany should continue to operate until April 15th. One must also discuss building new nuclear power plants in the southwest and in Germany, Frohnmaier demanded. "Technology has advanced a lot."

Since July, the AfD state association has been observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected right-wing extremist. The secret service can thus examine the right-wing populists more closely and, under strict conditions, observe members, monitor phones and recruit informants.

The party congress adopted several resolutions, including on the Ukraine war. "We demand the immediate cessation of all arms sales to the warring parties," reads the resolution presented at the meeting. The goal is a "just peace" that takes into account the security interests of Ukraine and Russia. At the federal level, AfD co-head of the parliamentary group Tino Chrupalla had already called for German arms deliveries to stay out of the war.