BERLIN (AP) — The far-right Alternative for Germany is in a buoyant mood as it holds a convention this weekend. It is capitalizing on the unpopularity of a government that’s trying to reform the sluggish economy, and eyeing promising prospects of power in an eastern region this fall.

Yet the anti-migration nationalist party is as polarizing as ever. Its meeting is expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters to the eastern city of Erfurt.

Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is meeting to elect its leaders, which German parties do every two years. It will aim to put on a show of unity as it extends the terms of Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, who have run the party together for four years.

In last year’s national election, AfD achieved the best showing by a far-right party in Germany since World War II. Its second-place finish left it as the biggest opposition party nationally and the strongest political force in Germany’s formerly communist east. Its support has since climbed above the 20.8 percent it won then, with recent assessments putting it in first place.

Weidel said recently that “2026 is a year of destiny for AfD.” Mainstream parties say they won’t work with it, a stance often known as a “firewall.”

But it hopes to win 40% of the vote or more in a state election on September 6 in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt. That could put it on course for an absolute majority or in a position where it might try to attract defectors, paving the way for its first state governor.

Another eastern state election follows two weeks later in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and AfD is optimistic there too.

“AfD is standing before the gates of power, to some extent,” said Albrecht von Lucke, a political expert who edits the magazine Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik.

AfD’s first head of a county administration was elected in 2023 in Thuringia, the state where Erfurt is located. No more have followed since, as enough voters rallied around mainstream candidates to prevent a repeat.

But leading a state administration would........

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