HomeTop StoriesTens of thousands protest in Berlin as Rights' influence grows

Tens of thousands protest in Berlin as Rights’ influence grows

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against Germany’s growing influence on Saturday evening at a rally in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

The demonstrators used lights and their mobile phones to form what organizers described as a “sea of ​​light” aimed against the Alternative for Germany (AFD).

Police in the German capital reported the turnout at around 30,000.

The rally was held a month before Germans go to the polls in a general election in which the anti-immigration and Eurosceptic AFD is expected to achieve a strong result.

Protesters want firewall to remain against AFD

Christoph Bautz, founder of the political pressure group Campact and one of the initiators of the demonstration in Berlin, demanded that the mainstream parties maintain their long-standing “firewall” against working with the AFD.

He made a direct appeal to conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is the front-runner in the February 23 elections and has vowed a migration crackdown if he were to become chancellor.

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Bautz said that if Merz makes common cause with the AFD to push tougher migration measures through parliament, then “an uprising of decent people will break out in this country.”

Merz has repeatedly said that his CDU/CSU bloc will not form a government with the AFD. But he sparked a furor this week when he suggested he was willing to accept the party’s support in parliament to get his migration policy approved.

The demonstrators who gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate chanted: “We are the firewall.”

Many families with children were present. Several posters were directed against the alternative to Germany, such as the slogan: “There is no alternative to the AFD stupid.”

‘No one likes Nazis except Merz’

There were similar protests in West Germany on Saturday.

Police estimated that around 40,000 people took to the streets in Cologne on Saturday, where authorities had expected only around 5,000 demonstrators.

Many signs were not only aimed at the AFD, but also explicitly against Merz.

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Some demonstrators carried signs that read “Nobody likes Nazis but Merz.”

Demonstration in Aschaffenburg

In Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, police said around 3,000 people showed up on Saturday to warn of a shift to the right.

On Wednesday afternoon, a 2-year-old boy and a man were killed in a stabbing attack in a park in Aschaffenburg.

A refugee from Afghanistan, previously known to police, was taken into custody for the attack. Authorities said the 28-year-old should have been deported some time ago given his past history.

The stabbing sharpened the immigration debate ahead of parliamentary elections on February 23.

People take part in a demonstration against the right in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Marion van der Kraats/dpa-zentralbild/dpa

"Kein Bock Auf Nazis" is written on a flag during an anti-right demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Hannes P Albert/DPA

“Kein Bock Auf Nazis” is written on a flag during an anti-right demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Hannes P Albert/DPA

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