AfD records sharp increase in membership

(Patria) - The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) has recorded a strong increase in membership since the beginning of last year, claims the party's deputy leader Tino Chrupalla.

- The number of AfD members has grown by 60 percent since the beginning of last year and now stands at 46,880 - Chrupalla told about 600 delegates at the AfD's annual party convention held in Essen, western Germany.

He states that 20,000 citizens became members of the AfD during that period.

- This is an incredible figure if you consider the pressures you have to endure as an AfD member - said Chrupalla, who, along with Alice Weidel, was re-elected as party leader yesterday.

The large "people's" parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), each have around 350,000 members, while the Green Party has about 70,000 members according to the latest data.

Weidel and Chrupalla pointed to the successes in the last European Parliament elections when the AfD became the second strongest political force in the country.

They called on the AfD to repeat these successes in the elections for the parliaments in three East German federal states in September.

Weidel sharply criticized the work of Olaf Scholz's coalition government, which includes social democrats, greens, and liberals.

- Germany will destroy itself if we do not take the helm and abolish this woke and hippie madness - said Weidel.

The start of the two-day congress was delayed due to numerous protests in Essen. Several thousand demonstrators tried to prevent AfD candidates from reaching the hall where the congress is being held.