Nationwide, tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in demonstrations for democracy and against right-wing extremism on Sunday. In Munich alone, the emergency services expected “25,000 plus X” participants, as a police spokeswoman said on Sunday morning. In Cologne, the “Cologne stands across” alliance, which consists of more than 50 parties, organizations and initiatives, is expecting around 10,000 participants. A protest is planned in front of the Bundestag in Berlin this afternoon.
Rallies and demonstrations against the right and the AfD have also been registered in many other German cities, including Chemnitz, Dresden, Flensburg, Bonn and Neubrandenburg. Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) was expected at a demonstration in Cottbus. New state parliaments will be elected in September in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. According to surveys, the AfD could become the strongest force in all three countries, some by a significant margin.
According to counts by the police and the organizers, a total of at least 300,000 people demonstrated nationwide on Saturday. According to police and organizers, there were 35,000 people in Frankfurt am Main and Hanover alone.
Habeck: “Democracy lives from the people who stand up for it”
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck viewed the demonstrations as an encouraging sign for democracy. “Democracy lives from the people who stand up for it,” said the Green politician to the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Monday). It is impressive to see that many people are now “taking to the streets and showing the flag for our democracy.”
The Federal Government’s Commissioner for Integration, Reem Alabali-Radovan, described the demonstrations as “good and important”, but at the same time called for further action. “We need an alliance across society,” said the SPD politician “Zeit Online” (Sunday). “And that means taking to the streets more than a few times.” Everyone must stand up for the diverse society. “That means looking for a conversation: in the club, at work, in the family and among friends. Contrary to all the racist sayings that are always claimed that they are not meant that way.”
On Saturday evening, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter: “So many people who show faces and attitudes – our democracy lives from strong democrats like you!” Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt, who comes from Thuringia, also wrote on “We fought for it in 1989. Encouraging! I’m happy about everyone who went out, but especially in the East.”
The International Auschwitz Committee thanked the people who protested across the country. “Survivors of the Holocaust are more than grateful to all those who are taking to the streets these days against the hatred and lies of the right-wing extremists. They see these demonstrations as a powerful sign from the citizens and a revival of the democracy that they have long hoped for and waited,” said Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner on Saturday evening.
The protests were triggered by the revelations by the Correctiv research center about a meeting of right-wing extremists on November 25th, in which AfD politicians as well as individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Values Union took part in Potsdam. The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” at the meeting. When right-wing extremists use the term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress.
