Until 100,000 protesters are expected to gather today at Essen where the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is holding a two-day conference to elect its new leadership, the city’s police predict in western germany.

Authorities have expressed concerns that while most of the expected protests are expected to be peaceful, some 1,000 left-wing extremists may use violent means to disrupt the conference.

About 600 delegates sqof the AfD will gather today in the closed arena Grugahale of the city, with the current leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Hroupala to seek re-election ahead of the German parliamentary elections, which will be held in autumn next year. No one has come forward to challenge this duo.

Left-wing organizations have announced that they plan to block entrances to the convention site in the morning with the aim of preventing AfD delegates from passing. The police have made it clear that this will not be tolerated.

A heavy police force has been deployed to protect the conference, the police announced. The main protests are planned for today, with a march starting from the main train station.

At least 45,000 protesters are expected to gather in the afternoon in a parking lot near the convention site.

A major issue for the conference is expected to be the AfD’s election campaign for the European elections held in early June, in which the party fared less well than predicted in opinion polls.

The final stages of the election campaign were overshadowed by how the party dealt with its ballot chief, Maximilian Crahis controversial comments about the Nazi era and his aide’s possible ties to China.

The AfD was expelled from the European Parliament’s political group Identity and Democracy in response to Kra’s comments about Nazi Germany.