Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by / Matthew Moore
00:17 Alexander Dobrindt / German Interior Minister
00:51 Björn Höcke / AfD Leader Thuringia
01:01 Georg Maier / Interior Minister Thuringia (SPD)
01:38 Kai Arzheimer / Political Scientist, University of Mainz

Script:

Whenever the AfD meets one thing is certain. 

Protests.

Blockades.

And a signficant police presence.

Germany’s interior minister has called for restraint when the AfD meets in the eastern city of Erfurt this weekend.

++++ Alexander Dobrindt, Interior Minister +++
"To be honest, we are concerned about what might unfold."

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to take part in dozens of events organized by churches, trade unions and civic groups. 

With high profile concerts also taking place in the city, police are preparing for considerable disruption. 

In the past, groups have set up barricades in a bid to stop AfD delegates from reaching their venue.

Björn Höcke, the local AfD boss who leads the radical wing of the party is warning of a state of emergency.

+++ Björn Höcke, AfD Leader Thuringia +++
"Look back at previous meetings in Riesa and Giessen, we must expect conditions akin to civil war."

Government officials rejected that claim.

+++ Georg Maier, Interior Minister Thuringia (SPD) +++
"We have absolutely no information to suggest that a situation similar to the civil war you described will arise."

Like in previous years, the conference is designed to project strength — the AfD is currently leading in some national polls.

The party leadership duo is expected to be re-elected – no surprise there. 

But Höcke will dominate too, with a motion to weaken the national party’s so-called incompatibility list.

That list aims to prevent members of groups that the party executive has ruled too extreme -- like the ethno-nationalist Identitarian Movement -- from joining the party. 

+++ Kai Arzheimer, Political Scientist, University of Mainz +++
"This is, I think, an assertion of those most extreme forces within the party who demonstrate that they are now able to change a rule that has existed on paper for the last couple of years. This is not really a surprise."

Critics have also accused the AfD of flirting with Nazi history. 

The party conference in Erfurt falls 100 years after an infamous rally in nearby Weimar where Hitler rallied the NSDAP behind him. 

Senior figures in the AfD, which is hoping to gain power for the first time in key regional elections later this year, have rejected any parallels. 

END