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Police reported that a gathering against the extreme right in Munich, Germany on Sunday concluded earlier than planned due to safety apprehensions as an estimated 100,000 individuals attended. This protest was among numerous others held throughout the country over the weekend, attracting a total of hundreds of thousands of participants.
Protests occurred after news broke that far-right individuals gathered to talk about expelling millions of immigrants, including those with German nationality. Several members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were in attendance.
Police in Cologne, a city in western Germany, have verified that “tens of thousands” of individuals gathered on Sunday to demonstrate. Organizers estimated the crowd reached 70,000. In Berlin, another protest on Sunday afternoon attracted at least 60,000 people, and possibly up to 100,000, according to German news agency dpa as reported by police.
A comparable protest on Friday in Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, had an estimated attendance of 50,000 and was cut short due to safety concerns. On Saturday, demonstrations in other German cities such as Stuttgart, Nuremberg, and Hannover also saw tens of thousands of participants.
Although Germany has seen other protests against the far right in past years, the size and scope of protests being held this weekend — not just in major cities, but also in dozens of smaller cities across the country — are notable. The large turnout around Germany showed how these protests are galvanizing popular opposition to the AfD in a new way.
The AfD is currently performing well in polls, with recent surveys showing it in second place nationally at approximately 23%. This is a significant increase from the 10.3% it received in the previous federal election of 2021.
The AfD is currently leading in the polls for the upcoming fall elections in its strongholds of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia in eastern Germany.
The trigger for the demonstrations stemmed from an article published by Correctiv last week about a suspected far-right gathering in November. The gathering reportedly included members of the extremist group Identitarian Movement and individuals associated with the AfD. According to the report, one of the prominent attendees, Austrian citizen Martin Sellner, presented his idea of “remigration” which involved deportations.
The AfD has attempted to dissociate itself from the extreme gathering by stating that it had no official or financial ties to the gathering, and that it cannot be held accountable for the topics discussed. Members who attended did so in a personal capacity. However, one of the AfD’s co-leaders, Alice Weidel, has ended her association with an advisor who was present at the event, and has also criticized the media’s coverage of the event.
Prominent German leaders and government representatives expressed their backing for the demonstrations on Sunday, joining politicians from various parties who had already shown their support.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated in a video that the fate of our democracy relies not on the number of its adversaries, but on the determination of those who protect it. He also acknowledged that those participating in demonstrations are standing up for our nation and its fundamental laws against those who seek to harm them.
Source: independent.co.uk
