Leaders of Germany's far-right AfD dismiss protests as 'distraction'

Leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) described mass nationwide protests against the party as "a distraction" and a desperate "last effort" to score political points before key state elections in eastern Germany later this year.

AfD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel argued on Monday that the anti-immigrant party was being "defamed and slandered," but vowed that the protests and negative press coverage "will not harm us in the long run, it will make us stronger."

Her co-chairman, Tino Chrupalla, claimed that the mass protests against the AfD and other far-right groups are "a distraction from the real problems in this country."

Chrupalla accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unpopular centre-left government of trying to use the demonstrations to turn public anger "toward the opposition."

Numerous cities across Germany have seen mass protests against the AfD following revelations in news reports that AfD politicians secretly met with far-right extremists, including a well-known Austrian white supremacist, to discuss ways to push immigrants out of Germany.

The discussions reportedly included the possibility of removing some German citizens, in addition to asylum seekers and other migrants.

Individual members of the ultraconservative Werteunion faction within the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) also attended the meeting.

AfD parliamentary faction leader Bernd Baumann claimed that the protests represented a "last effort" from political opponents.

"We have a total of 10 million voters, and now a few hundred thousand have taken to the streets in favour of left-wing green politics," Baumann said. "From our point of view, these are groups that have been called upon, which together represent this entire left-green caste in Germany."