The western German city of Essen has cancelled the rental contract for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) national party conference in the Grugahalle indoor arena at the end of June.
The contract has been cancelled, a spokeswoman for the city announced on Thursday evening. There were no objections from the district government to the decision, she said.
The AfD declared that it planned to take the issue to court. "Of course we will sue. The whole nine yards. All the necessary steps have already been taken," AfD national spokesman Tino Chrupalla told Bild.
The city of Essen and the trade fair organizers have been looking for months for ways to prevent the AfD's national party conference from taking place in the Grugahalle.
Most recently, the city council asked the AfD to commit to not using any criminal Nazi slogans during the party conference. Violations could result in a fine of €500,000 ($545,000). The city had set a deadline for the AfD to submit the declaration, otherwise the rental agreement was to be cancelled "immediately without notice," according to the council resolution.
After the AfD's required declaration was not received by the end of the set deadline, the city followed through with the cancellation.
According to the city, it had initially not been possible to issue the cancellation as the AfD had called in the Dusseldorf district government as the responsible municipal supervisory authority.
At its national party conference, the AfD plans to elect a new executive board. Numerous organizations have announced opposition to the meeting.
The police are expecting tens of thousands of people to take part in the counter-demonstrations, the biggest protests in the city for a long time.