By Susanne Neumayer-Remter
ERFURT, Germany, July 4 (Reuters) - Thousands of opponents of Germany's far-right AfD took to the streets of Erfurt on Saturday and blocked roads to the party's annual conference ahead of regional elections that could see it take power at state level for the first time.
Protesters from unions, civil society groups and left-wing parties gathered as large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed ahead of the AfD's two-day annual conference.
AfD stands for Alternative for Germany.
Watched by police in riot gear, protesters sat in rows to block highways and roads leading to the convention centre where the meeting is being held. Police estimated around 15,000 people joined demonstrations in and around the eastern city.
"We want to make it clear that we simply won't tolerate this, that fascism is on the rise here in Germany," said Georg Becker, a spokesperson for Widersetzen ("Resist"), an anti-AfD umbrella group.
LEADING IN THE POLLS
The conference, where co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are expected to be re-elected, comes ahead of elections in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that the AfD hopes will help pave the way for success at national level.
Formed more than a decade ago, the AfD has opened a clear lead in opinion polls over Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives with a mix of nationalist rhetoric, calls for tougher immigration policies and appeals to voters frustrated with successive governments and years of economic stagnation.
Opponents accuse the AfD of promoting racist policies and attitudes incompatible with Germany's democratic values and say it would threaten the country's constitutional order. Mainstream parties have ruled out any cooperation, under a so-called "firewall" strategy designed to isolate the party and keep it out of coalition governments.
AfD leaders deny opposing Germany's democratic foundations and earlier this year won a court injunction ordering the domestic intelligence service to suspend a previous classification of the party as "extremist".
Recent polls put AfD support as high as 29%, compared with around 22% for Merz's CDU/CSU conservatives. The party also made strong gains in two regional elections in western Germany earlier this year.
Its strongest support, however, comes from the former communist east, where surveys show the highest levels of voter disillusionment with the traditional party system.
In Saxony-Anhalt, where the latest poll puts the AfD on 41% ahead of 23% for Merz's Christian Democrats, the party is aiming for outright victory. It also has hopes of becoming the largest party in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
(Writing by James Mackenzie. Editing by Mark Potter)
