Clashes at the Congress of Germany's Right-Wing Party Send Two Police Officers to Hospital

During clashes on Saturday, July 9, between supporters and opponents of a right-wing German party, nine police officers were injured, with two of them described as having 'serious' injuries and being transferred to the hospital. The two officers were injured in the head while on the ground, accompanying a German politician entering the congress of the 'Alternative for Germany' party. The 'Alternative for Germany' party, described as far-right, began its two-day public conference on Saturday in the city of Essen to elect new leadership following last month's European Parliament elections, which indicated a strengthening of the right wing in Germany. Before the conference began, about 50,000 opponents gathered to protest the event. The police deployed 1,000 officers in the western Essen area to prevent opponents from entering the conference venue. The police reported that the assailants who attacked the police officers, covering their faces, fled the scene. A local official had warned that 'potentially violent' 'far-left rioters' might be among the protesters. Alice Weidel, the leader of the Alternative party, stated at the beginning of the congress, which was slightly delayed due to the unrest, that her party has the right to hold its congress like other parties. She said, 'We are here and we will stay.' The results of the European Parliament elections showed an increase in the share of far-right parties. On Saturday, the party re-elected Ms. Weidel and Tino Chrupalla for another two years in leadership. Mr. Chrupalla told about 600 party representatives that they would start their governance from the East (in Germany) and then reach the West, taking over the federal government. The 'Alternative for Germany' party is preparing for key state elections scheduled to take place in less than three months in Germany. This party has high popularity in states that were under communist rule in East Germany before the reunification. The 'Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution' in Germany, which is effectively the country's internal security and intelligence agency, is monitoring this anti-immigrant party, which criticizes the current government's economic policies. The 'Alternative for Germany' became the second-largest party for European institutions in the European parliamentary elections, securing 16% of the votes, which, although about six percent less than polls predicted, is considered its best performance so far. Alice Weidel's recent comments suggesting that not all members of the SS were necessarily criminals faced widespread outrage. The injury of police officers during the Saturday event in Essen comes a month after another police officer in the country was injured during a knife attack on a gathering of right-wing critics of Islam by a 13-year-old Afghan refugee, who died two days later. The death of this officer was the second knife attack in the city of Mannheim in less than a week.