More than 200,000 people took to the streets today Germany, on the second consecutive day of demonstrations, in cities such as Berlin, Munich (south) or Cologne (west) to protest against the extreme rightafter up to 300,000 citizens did so on Saturday.
In the German capital, the protest was called by an alliance of parties, NGOs and unions with the slogan 'Defend democracy: together against the right', while attendees carried banners with slogans such as “There is no place for Nazis” or “Human rights instead of right-wing humans.”
One hour after the event began, at 4:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT), the Police told EFE that they estimated the presence ofe between 50,000 and 100,000 peoplealthough judging by social networks many attendees suffered delays due to the collapse of public transportation.
In Munich, the authorities decided to prematurely interrupt the march called by 230 civil society organizations because, due to the high influx of protesters, it was no longer possible to guarantee their safety. There were up to 100,000, according to the Police, and double that according to the organizers.
Protesters attend a demonstration against the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AFD) in Berlin, Germany
In Cologne (west), law enforcement officials spoke of up to 50,000 protesters, while in Bremen (north) they estimated the presence of 40,000, and 13,000 took to the streets in Saarbrücken (south), to which we must add a large attendance in smaller cities.
The wave of protests occurs after ten days ago an investigative media revealed that several representatives of the Alternative for Germany (AfD, far right) participated in a meeting with neo-Nazis, far-rightists and ultra-conservatives of various kinds in which plans to expel millions of people of foreign origin from the country.
“Together we are stronger”, the voice of the protesters
In a message to citizens, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier today supported the mobilizations. “They defend our republic and our constitution from our enemies” and “defend humanity“, argument.
“The future of our democracy does not depend on the volume (with which) its enemies shout, but on the strength of those who defend democracy. Let us show that together we are stronger,” he stressed.
The Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy, the Green Robert Habeck, expressed himself in similar terms, saying in statements to the newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine that “democracy lives on the people who stand up to defend it.”
This Saturday, more than 300,000 people were counted among various events throughout the country, of which the most populous were those held in Frankfurt (south) and Hannover (center), cities where up to 35,000 protesters gathered according to the Police.
In Dortmund (west) 30,000 protesters gathered, while in southern German cities such as Karslruhe and Suttgart there were at least 20,000.
Despite the strong indignation caused by the news about the AfD's alleged plans, according to the latest voting intention polls, the ultra party will achieve record results in the next regional elections.
When voting in September in the states of Thuringia, Brandenburg and Saxony, all in the east of the country, it is possible that the far-right will win in all three with approximately a third of the ballots, while national polls They place them as a second forcewith approximately 22% of
suffrages.
Protesters attend a demonstration against the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AFD) in Berlin
EFE
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