Around 150,000 people demonstrated on Saturday February 3 in the streets of Berlin, as the mobilization against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party entered its fourth week.
Rallies also took place in the cities of Dresden and Hanover, a sign of growing concern over strong public support for the AfD.
Participants, protesting against the rise of the far right, continued to flock to the German parliament in Berlin, the Reichstag building, police said.
“Whether in Eisenach, Homburg or Berlin, in small and large towns across the country, many citizens are coming together to demonstrate against forgetting, hatred and hate speech,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on the network social
Ob in Eisenach, Homburg oder Berlin: In small and large Städten in ganzen Land kommen viele Bürgerinnen and Bürger zusammen, um gegen das Vergessen, gegen Hass and Hetze zu demonstrieren - also an diesem Wochenende. Ein starkes Zeichen für die Demokratie und unser Grundgesetz.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) February 3, 2024
These demonstrations are “a strong sign in favor of democracy and our Constitution,” he added.
The AfD's success has sparked concern among Germany's traditional parties, who fear it will win three regional elections in eastern Germany in September, even though recent polls have shown a slight drop in support for the AfD. far-right party.
Also read "Remigration", demonstrations: one scandal too many for the AfD?
Jakob Springfeld, spokesperson for the NGO Solidarity Network Saxony, said he was shocked that it had taken so long to organize protests of this scale against the far right, when the AfD had already managed to imposed in many small communities.
“But there is a start now. And the fact that this start is happening brings hope, I think.”
Indeed, a Forsa poll showed earlier this week that support for the AfD had fallen below 20% for the first time since July.
According to the pollster, the AfD is in second place behind Germany's conservative CDU party, which has 32% support among voters, while Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democrats are in third place. with 15%.
The 200 rallies planned in the country, as for several weeks, testify to the shock caused by the revelation on January 10 by the German investigative media Correctiv of a meeting of extremists in Potsdam, near Berlin, where, in November, a plan for mass expulsion of foreigners or people of foreign origin was discussed.
Tino Chrupalla, co-chair of the AfD in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, told public radio Deutschlandfunk that while it was "legitimate to take to the streets with the government", protesters should not let themselves be used to divert the attention of the parties from the real problems of the country".
The country includes Germans with immigrant backgrounds and his party has no plans to expel them, he added.
“Give a signal”
Against a backdrop of economic slowdown and inflation, the AfD continues to progress in the polls, a few months before three important regional elections in the east of the country.
"I don't know if these protests will have an effect on AfD voters, but it is important to give a signal, because humanity is disappearing in relationships between people and we need more humanity and respect for our differences,” Margret Hurth, a 53-year-old educator in Berlin, told AFP.
The rally was organized by the Hand in Hand movement, which brings together nearly 1,800 organizations, including the Friday for Future organization and the citizens' alliance Campact.
The capital's law enforcement agencies said they had deployed 700 police officers on site.
Several metro and bus stations, including that of the Brandenburg Gate, were closed, said the BVG on X, the city's public transport management company, while traffic was disrupted in the Mitte district.
In Potsdam, capital of the neighboring state of Brandenburg, a human chain was formed around the Landtag building, according to local media.
"The AfD is developing more and more radical forces. It is a profoundly far-right party. I am literally shaken every time I hear this hateful speech," said Markus Söder, the leader of the CSU, in the Rheinische Post newspaper.
“Where are we in Germany when a government calls for a demonstration against part of the population?”, declared the AfD on X, denouncing a “campaign against the only real opposition party in Germany".
With AFP and Reuters
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