Police officers stand in front of demonstrators to block a protest against the AfD party congress in front of the Maritim Hotel in Cologne. Photo: Odd Andersen/AFPGermany's right-wing populist AfD party will attempt to paper over festering rivalries at a weekend party congress to ensure it enters parliament for the first time in September's general election. The news left the upstart anti-immigration party reeling and set the stage for a showdown between populist and more radical, hard-right forces. But the AfD claims credit for helping to push her to toughen Germany's border policy in the wake of the refugee influx. Denouncing "provocations" by party officials, Petry has called for the ouster of an AfD state leader, Bjoern Hoecke, who in January sparked outrage by slamming Berlin's vast Holocaust memorial as a "monument of shame".

Source: The Local April 22, 2017 07:07 UTC