class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>
After the massive protests against right-wing extremism on Friday and Saturday, large-scale demonstrations will again take place on Sunday. Alliances in Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Dresden, among others, have called on people to take to the streets.
Demonstrations will also take place in Pirna, Saxony, where AfD candidate Tim Lochner (54) was elected the new mayor in December.
Rally in Munich cancelled
In Berlin, a protest is planned for the Bundestag around 4 p.m., Focus writes. A broad alliance of various organizations has called for this. According to the police, approximately 1,000 participants have been registered.
The crowds were also big in Munich – too big. The organizer canceled the event due to overcrowding. A police spokesperson told the German news agency this on Sunday. The safety of the estimated 80,000 participants can no longer be guaranteed.
The crowds are also enormous in Cologne. According to the organizers, 70,000 people responded to the demonstration’s call. It is not clear whether these figures are actually correct, especially because the police speak of ‘only’ 50,000 participants.
According to police and organizers, hundreds of thousands demonstrated in defense of democracy on Saturday. According to police, 35,000 people took part in Frankfurt am Main, and similarly high numbers were reported in Hannover and Dortmund. Thousands were also on the streets in Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Halle, Nuremberg, Kassel, Recklinghausen, Braunschweig, Wuppertal, Erfurt and other cities.
The Campact network spoke to a total of around half a million participants on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, the demonstration parade in Hamburg had to be stopped for safety reasons due to the large number of participants.
“We have to do our business”
Top politicians from various parties supported the meetings. “This is the protection of the Constitution in action,” said Lower Saxony Prime Minister Stephan Weil (65) during the demonstration in Hannover. He called on people to take a clear stand against the right “wherever there is an opportunity” and stand up for democracy and human rights. “Then Germany has a good future,” Weil said.
Minister of Green Agriculture Cem Özdemir (58) also welcomes the national protests. However, in an interview with Deutschlandfunk he also raised a warning finger. ‘We have to do our business. It is not just about mobilizing the democratic center, it is also about stopping the traffic lights – including the democratic opposition of the CDU/CSU – so that we argue like tinkers and thus drive people into the arms of the AfD.
Secret deportation plans fuel protests
The reason for the protests is revelations from the Correctiv network about a secret meeting in a hotel in Potsdam. Plans were discussed there for a mass deportation of people with a migration background, just like other Germans who support refugees, for example.
Members of the AfD and the right-wing conservative Values Union participated, among others, who decided on Saturday to set up their own party to the right of the CDU and CSU. The demonstrations are also fundamentally aimed against the rise of right-wing extremism in Germany. (ced/AFP)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
