HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people across Germany took to the streets over the weekend to protest against the far-right and the AfD party.
Between Friday and Sunday, protests were organised in around 100 locations, with organisers estimating that over 1.4 million people had gone out into the streets to send a “signal against the AfD and the rightwards drift in German society”.
The number of demonstrators was so large in Munich on Sunday that organisers were forced to cancel a planned march and ask people to disperse for safety reasons.
Around 100,000 had turned up for the protest, four times as many as were predicted to turn out for the event.
Another 100,000 people gathered to protest in Berlin on Sunday evening, according to police figures.
This is Berlin today. Calling for resistance against the Far Right.
— Terry Reintke (@TerryReintke) January 21, 2024
All around Germany, people took to the streets in the last days.
History tells us:
We cannot wait until it is too late and Fascists are in power.
We have to stand up to them.
NOW.pic.twitter.com/0EAvXse4Tk
The AfD (Alternative for Germany) is a right-wing party in Germany.
It was founded as a Eurosceptic party in 2013 but has since morphed into an anti-immigration party which has lurched further to the far-right.
For example, in 2016 the party adopted a strong anti-Islam stance and used the slogan “Islam is not a part of Germany”.
The AfD entered the Bundestag (the German Parliament) for the first time following the 2017 German elections on the back of discontent over a huge influx of migrants, with many fleeing wars in Syria and Iraq.
In the latest German federal elections in 2021, the AfD gained 10.3% of the national vote share but latest polling places the party in second place nationally with around 23% support.
In its eastern German strongholds of Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia, the AfD is leading the polls.
On 10 January, investigative media outlet Correctiv reported that Martin Sellner, who leads the white pride ‘Identitarian Movement’ in Austria, had presented a plan at a meeting which the AfD attended to “reverse the inward migration of foreigners”, and remove migrants and asylum seekers instead.
The AfD confirmed that party officials attended the meeting with the Austrian extremist leader, but denied any plans to adopt a proposal for mass deportations of immigrants.
The meeting near Potsdam had gathered politicians, lawyers and doctors alike, according to Correctiv.
Sellner confirmed his presence at the talks and said: “It was the end of November and I presented my book and the Identitarian concept of remigration there.”
The Austrian added that his “concept targeted migrants who are not assimilated, or who culturally, economically and criminally weigh on society”.
The Identitarian movement subscribes to the “great replacement” conspiracy theory claiming a plot by non-white migrants to replace Europe’s “native” white population, something that the nationalist extremists want to stop.
The AfD said Roland Hartwig, who is an aide of co-leader Alice Weidel, had presented a social media project at the meeting.
But the party said Hartwig did not “bring Mr Sellner’s ideas on migration policies” into the party, and added that it “would not change its immigration policies based on the individual ideas of a speaker at the meeting”.
Meanwhile, Austria’s interior ministry today warned of a “noticeable influx” in the country’s extreme right scene, announcing it arrested two men in separate cases.
“The so-called ‘New Right’ currently represents the greatest challenge in the area of right-wing extremism,” Austria’s interior ministry said, naming the Identitarian Movement as part of this grouping.
“There is currently a noticeable influx into the scene, although exact numbers are difficult to determine,” it added.
Two men have been arrested in separate cases since last month – a 20-year-old for allegedly being involved in the international white supremacist group Feuerkrieg Division, and a 40-year-old for allegedly subscribing to Nazi ideology, it said.
The 20-year-old is being held while investigations are going on, the statement added.
The protests were organised by citizen’s movement group Campact and the international climate movement Fridays for Future.
Campact said the protests were a “clear sign against the right, against the AfD, and against Nazi ideology in people’s minds”.
Campact added that the protest was “sorely needed” and has demanded that there be no coalition German government that includes the AfD.
WIR WAREN LAUT, WIR WAREN ÜBER 1 MIO – WIR SIND MEHR & DAS DEUTSCHLANDWEIT!
— campact (@campact) January 21, 2024
Die Demos in ganz Deutschland sind ein klares Zeichen gegen Rechts, gegen die #NoAfD und gegen Nazi-Ideologie in den Köpfen.#wirsindmehr #DeutschlandStehtAuf #NieWiederIstJetzt pic.twitter.com/dNBi75bJov
In Munich, a protest had to be ended early yesterday due to safety concerns after around 100,000 people showed up.
In the western city of Cologne, police confirmed “tens of thousands” of people showed up to protest on Sunday, and organisers spoke of around 70,000 people.
A protest on Sunday afternoon in Berlin drew at least 60,000 people and potentially up to 100,000, police said.
A similar demonstration on Friday in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, drew what police said was a crowd of 50,000 and also had to be ended early because of safety concerns.
And Saturday protests in other German cities like Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Hannover drew tens of thousands of people.
Although Germany has seen other protests against the far right in past years, the size and scope of protests held over the 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 galvanising popular opposition to the AfD in a new way.
Prominent German politicians and elected officials voiced support for the protests, joining leaders from major parties across the spectrum who had already spoken out.
German Chancellor Scholz has called far-right hardliners an attack on democracy.
“I try to imagine how the more than 20 million citizens who have a history of migration feel,” said Scholz about the reported mass-deportation plans discussed in the AfD meeting.
Meanwhile, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a video statement: “The future of our democracy does not depend on the volume of its opponents, but on the strength of those who defend democracy.
“Those turning out to protest defend our republic and our constitution against its enemies.”
-With additional reporting from © AFP 2024 and Press Association
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