GERMANY-POLITICS-PARTIES-FAR RIGHT-PROTEST

Police in the background watch as demonstrators have gathered for a sit-in to block the access road at Gothaer Platz to the Messe Erfurt fairground in Erfurt, eastern Germany on early July 4, 2026, where the party congress of far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) will be held from July 4-5. German police are bracing to guard an annual congress of the far-right AfD party this weekend against tens of thousands of antifascist demonstrators who are determined to shut it down. The standoff in the city of Erfurt, Thuringia state, comes as the opposition Alternative for Germany party is soaring in national opinion polls ahead of all other parties. (Photo by RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP via Getty Images)