Who are Germany's AfD and why have they been called 'Nazis'?

Despite widespread protests against the AfD, the political party currently still remains second in the polls, as ITV News' George Hancorn explains

Protests have broken out across Germany against the country's far-right AfD, who are currently polling second.

But who are Germany's AfD and why have people branded them 'Nazis'?

Who are the AfD?

The AfD or 'Alternative für Deutschland' are a far-right German political party, founded in 2013.

They were originally set up as an anti-euro movement but have since shifted their focus to Islam and immigration.

AfD co-leaders Tino Chrupalla (L) and Alice Weidel (R) pictured following a meeting at the German federal parliament, the Bundestag Credit: AP

What do they stand for?

The party are largely anti-immigration and anti-refugee. 

Some of the AfD's policies are described as anti-Islam, German nationalist and Euroscepticist.

The party is the only one in Germany's federal parliament, the Bundestag, whose environmental and climate policy is based on the denial of human-caused climate change, having been recently sucked into some anti-climate change conspiracies. 

What sparked the recent protests against the AfD?

The protests started after reports that two senior members of the party were at a meeting where plans to deport millions of immigrants, refugees and German citizens were discussed.

The plans would reportedly be implemented if the AfD took power.

Thousands gathered for demonstrations against the far right, among them the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

These people took to the streets to protest in Frankfurt Credit: AP

Last week, media outlet Correctiv reported on the alleged far-right meeting in November, which it said was attended by figures from the extremist Identitarian Movement and from the AfD.

A prominent member of the Identitarian Movement, Austrian citizen Martin Sellner, presented his "remigration" vision of deportation.

However, the AfD has since tried to distance itself from the meeting, saying it had no organisational or financial links to the event.

It's prompted calls for Germany to consider banning the AfD, which has moved steadily to the right since its founding in 2013. Many of its opponents have spoken out against the idea, arguing that the process would be lengthy, success is highly uncertain and it could benefit the party by allowing it to portray itself as a victim.

According to recent polling by YouGov, the AfD is currently sitting at roughly 24% nationally, behind the mainstream centre-right opposition, the CDU.

They're also often polling higher than the three main parties currently in coalition.

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