AfD Launches New Youth Wing as Protests Sweep Germany

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a volatile convergence of political ambition and civil unrest, the western German city of Giessen became the epicenter of a significant shift in the European far-right landscape on Saturday. As thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets to voice their opposition, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), currently the country’s most potent opposition force, convened to launch a new youth organization.

This strategic maneuvering comes as the party, buoyed by unprecedented electoral success, seeks to consolidate its future and shed the legal liabilities of its past, even as critics and intelligence agencies warn that the new entity is likely to retain the radical ideologies of its disbanded predecessor.

According to reports from Agence France-Presse (AFP) and The Associated Press (AP), the atmosphere in the university town of Giessen, home to approximately 93,000 people, was charged with tension from the early hours of the morning.

While the AfD delegates gathered inside the city’s convention center to draft statutes and select leadership, the streets outside witnessed a massive mobilization of civil society groups. An alliance of anti-fascists, religious organizations, labor unions, and political activists converged under slogans such as "Resist" and the motto "Together for Democracy and Diversity." The protests, intended to send a stark message against the far-right's normalization, quickly escalated in certain areas.

The AP reported that groups of protesters actively blocked or attempted to blockade roads leading into and around the city, disrupting traffic and access to the venue. The confrontation turned physical at one location where, according to police statements, officers deployed pepper spray after stones were thrown at them by demonstrators. To maintain order and separate the opposing factions, thousands of police officers were deployed across the city, creating a heavy security cordon around the around 1,000 AfD delegates expected to attend the founding convention.

The impetus for this high-stakes gathering is the AfD’s remarkable political ascent. As detailed by AFP, the anti-immigration party has capitalized on widespread voter dissatisfaction, becoming Germany's main opposition party following the general election in February, where it secured a record score of over 20 percent.

The AP adds context to this rise, noting that the party has continued to climb in opinion polls as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition government has struggled to impress the electorate. With an eye toward further gains in state elections scheduled for next year—particularly in its eastern heartlands where support is strongest—the AfD is moving to professionalize its structure and present a united front.

However, the primary objective of Saturday’s meeting, which was scheduled to begin at around 10:00 a.m. local time, was to solve a specific internal crisis: the toxicity of its former youth wing. The previous organization, known as the Junge Alternative (JA), had become a liability for the parent party. Intelligence services had classified the JA as a proven right-wing extremist group due to its radicalism.

AFP reports that the JA had been frequently involved in controversies that tarnished the party’s image, including incidents where members used racist chants and held meetings with neo-Nazis. Facing a potential ban by the state, the AfD leadership made the tactical decision to disband the JA earlier this year, pre-empting government action and clearing the deck for a successor organization.

The new youth wing, the formation of which was the sole agenda of the Giessen conference, represents an attempt by the AfD to maintain the energy of its younger base while exerting tighter control over their activities. The AP notes that the party leadership desires closer oversight over the new group to prevent the kind of autonomous radicalism that defined the JA.

Unlike its predecessor, which operated as a registered association with relatively loose links to the party, the new entity is set to be more closely integrated into the AfD’s hierarchy and subject to its disciplinary structures. This structural change is designed to mitigate legal risks while harnessing the youth vote.

Delegates at the convention were tasked with determining the fundamental identity of this new group, including its statutes, name, and logo. AFP reports that the new wing is expected to be christened either "Generation Deutschland" (Generation Germany) or "Youth Germania."

The visual identity being considered is equally symbolic of the party’s nationalist ethos, with members deciding whether to adopt a suggested logo featuring an eagle, a cross, and Germany's national colors of black, red, and gold.

despite the structural changes intended to sanitize the youth wing's image, political observers and experts remain skeptical about any genuine ideological moderation. Fabian Virchow of the University of Duesseldorf, speaking to AFP, offered a sobering analysis of the likely composition of the new group. He asserted that the leading figures expected to helm the organization emerge from a distinct "far-right milieu."

This environment, Virchow explained, is one where former activists from the Identitarian Movement, fraternities, neo-Nazism, and ethno-nationalist groups come together. The expectation among experts is that the new youth wing will be at least as radical as the disbanded JA, regardless of the new branding.

This assessment is reinforced by the profile of the man likely to become the organization's first leader. AFP identified the probable head as Jean-Pascal Hohm, a 28-year-old AfD state lawmaker from eastern Germany. Hohm is described as having long-standing ties to various far-right and ethno-nationalist groups, suggesting that the personnel driving the new organization will provide continuity with the radicalism of the past.

The internal dynamics of the new youth wing also suggest a struggle for identity from day one. While the party leadership seeks control, the youth membership appears keen to assert its independence.

AFP highlights a specific motion scheduled for a vote, which declares that "the new youth organization should neither blindly follow the parent party nor serve as a lapdog for the federal or state executive committees of the parent party." This sentiment reflects a typical trend in German politics, noted by the AP, where youth wings are generally more politically radical than the parties themselves.

Stefan Marschall of Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf provided further insight into the strategic gamble the AfD is taking. He explained to AFP that while the new setup gives the party leadership control over this branch of the organization and helps present a more unified front, it comes with a significant cost.

The party will no longer be able to "completely credibly distance itself from the youth organization should it adopt problematic positions." By integrating the youth wing, the AfD effectively takes ownership of its rhetoric and actions, potentially complicating its legal defense against extremism charges.

The legal battle over the AfD’s status remains a backdrop to the events in Giessen. In May, Germany's domestic security service declared the AfD as a whole a "right-wing extremist" organization, a designation that fueled calls for a total ban on the party.

The AfD has challenged this designation in the courts. As the AP clarifies, while the Young Alternative was definitively classified as extremist, the classification of the main party was suspended pending the outcome of the AfD's legal challenge. This legal limbo makes the conduct of the new youth wing critical for the party’s survival; any extremist behavior by the new "Generation Germany" could serve as evidence in the ongoing case against the parent party.

For the protesters outside the convention center, these political nuances mattered less than the immediate threat they perceive to German democracy. The demonstration in Giessen was a personal mission for many. AFP interviewed Anna Walldorf, a 29-year-old woman who traveled by train from Frankfurt to her hometown of Giessen to participate. She expressed a desire to prove that her hometown represents more than just the far-right agenda.

"Democracy can no longer be taken for granted," Walldorf told AFP, adding that "it's time to send a strong message." Her sentiment echoed the broader concerns of the demonstrators who fear that the AfD’s anti-establishment and anti-migration rhetoric is eroding the country's democratic foundations.

The AfD, however, continues to portray itself as a necessary corrective to a failing system. The AP notes that the party frames itself as an anti-establishment force at a time of historically low trust in politicians. having first entered the national parliament in 2017 on a wave of discontent regarding the arrival of large numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s, curbing migration remains its signature theme. Yet, the party has shown a talent for capitalizing on discontent regarding other issues as well, broadening its appeal beyond its original single-issue focus.

The clash in Giessen represents a microcosm of the broader struggle within Germany. On one side stands a buoyant far-right movement, emboldened by electoral victories and seeking to entrench itself through a new generation of activists.

On the other stands a mobilized civil society and a wary state apparatus, attempting to contain what they view as an existential threat to the constitutional order. As the delegates inside the convention center cast their votes for "Generation Germany," and the police outside cleared roadblocks and dispersed protesters, the lines of future political conflict in Germany were being drawn with stark clarity.

The formation of this new youth wing is not merely an administrative reshuffle; it is a declaration of intent by the AfD to secure its legacy and expand its influence for decades to come, regardless of the opposition on the streets or in the courts.