Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany party, known as AfD, in recent weeks.
“Right-wing extremists are attacking our democracy,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a weekly video message to Germans.
Fear of a rising AfD has become almost panic since Correctiv, a small crowd-funded investigative news site, revealed this month that a private meeting of far-right politicians, businessmen and neo-Nazis took place in November, in the who talked about mass deportations—not only of illegal immigrants, but also of German citizens who immigrated to the country.
“It was the trigger for something and it's not just about the meeting, but about the strengthening of the AfD, which scares a lot of people,” said Matthias Quent, a sociologist who studies the far right.
The AfD has been rising in the polls for months. Although only 10 percent of Germans voted for the AfD in the last national election in 2020, the party currently has a poll approval rating of just under 25 percent. throughout the country and well above 30 percent in the Eastern States.
Correctiv documented the meeting using hidden cameras, witness accounts, and an undercover reporter. It was held in a hotel near Potsdam, not far from where, more than 80 years ago, Nazi officials planned the “final solution,” their plan to kill European Jews.
“The vocabulary is not different, the place is not different — the only difference is that we have been there before,” said Andrea Römmele, a teacher at the Hertie School in Berlin.
Alice Weidel, one of the two AfD leaders, accused Correctiv of using “Secret Service methods.” Her personal advisor was forced to resign after attending the meeting.
René Springer, a far-right member of Parliament, wrote in X: “We will deport foreigners to their countries of origin. Millions of them. This is not a secret plan. It is a promise”.
The AfD is monitored by the country's Office for the Protection of the Constitution on suspicion of being an extremist group.
Since details of the November meeting were revealed, protests have been held in Berlin, Potsdam, Freiburg, Cologne and elsewhere. A demonstration in Hamburg attracted more than 80,000 people, according to its organizers.
Scholz has supported the demonstrations. “I am grateful that tens of thousands of people are taking to the streets all over Germany these days — against racism, hate speech and for our liberal democracy,” he posted on X. “We democrats are many — many more than those who want to divide us.”
The growing appeal of the AfD has presented a dilemma. Many of its supporters already view the Government with deep suspicion and feel increasingly disenfranchised. Many of his opponents fear that banning the party would only reinforce those feelings.
“The most effective means against the enemies of democracy are not repression, bans and the like,” said Philipp Amthor, a politician with the conservative Christian Democrats party. “The most effective means of preserving a defensible democracy are better arguments, good politics, and good government.”
By: Christopher F. Schuetze
THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/7084146, IMPORTING DATE: 2024-01-24 19:52:04
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