Germany, elections to the Bundestag. Alice Weidel is the AfD candidate for chancellor

Delegates gathered at the two-day AfD convention in Ries, Saxony, which began on Saturday, elected Weidel unanimously by acclamation.

The AfD co-chair said in her speech that the party wants to do this Germany “strong, rich and safe”. Therefore – as she argued – the country's borders must be closed.

READ ALSO: German media about Musk's conversation with the AfD leader. “Weidel knocked herself out”

Weidel announced that her group would restart the Nord Stream gas pipeline. – We will restore Nord Stream to operation – said the AfD leader. She called the Christian Democrats a “party of frauds”, accusing them of copying the AfD's electoral program.

The AfD candidate for chancellor spoke out against obtaining energy from renewable sources. – When we are in power, we will demolish all wind turbines. Down with the windmills of shame, Weidel said. The AfD leader's speech was accompanied by the shouts of the delegates: – Alice for Germany!

This is the first time in the almost 12-year history of the AfD that the party has nominated its candidate for chancellor. The dpa agency pointed out that Weidel's candidacy has a more symbolic dimension, because despite the party's high position in the latest elections pollsright-wing populists have little chance of participating in the government after other parties have ruled out cooperation with it.

Due to the protests, the AfD federal convention started with a two-hour delay. About 10 thousand people demonstrated on Saturday morning, blocking access roads for delegates. The protesters shouted: “All of Germany hates the AfD.” There were clashes with the police.

During the convention, the AfD will adopt a program for the early Bundestag elections, which will take place on February 23. The party advocates, among other things, Germany's exit from Germany euro zonebreaking the Paris Agreement on climate protection. The areas of foreign, energy, migration and family policy will be the subject of debate and voting by delegates in Riesa.

On the same day, an electoral convention SPD in Berlin confirmed the candidacy of Olaf Scholz for chancellor almost unanimously. Of the 628 delegates and party board members, only five voted against; no one abstained. The demonstration of unity was all the more important because for a long time the nomination of the incumbent chancellor had been questioned due to the low popularity of the government he led and himself.

In his keynote speech, Scholz said Germany was “standing at a crossroads” and the elections would determine the direction the country would take. – If we turn in the wrong direction on February 23, we will wake up in a different country the next day. We cannot allow this to happen, he warned.

In his speech, Scholz presented his party as a representative of “ordinary people”, in contrast to the largest opposition bloc – CDU/CSU – which represents the interests of the “10,000 richest” and wants to reduce taxes for those earning the most.

The chancellor, who is running for re-election, announced an increase minimum wage from 12 to 15 euros per hour, tax reduction for 95 percent. German citizens and actions limiting the increase in rents and heating fees. – We live in extremely difficult times, said Scholz, referring to the international situation. He replaced it war in Ukraine and the possibility of taking power in Austria by the far-right FPOe. Without mentioning names Donald Trumpsharply criticized the forces in America that talk about changing the borders by force and want to “destroy our democratic institutions.”