ASeveral thousand people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for a rally against arms deliveries to Ukraine. Left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and women’s rights activist Alice Schwarzer called for the demonstration.
On Saturday, shortly before the start of the rally, the police initially spoke of around 5,000 participants and a continued strong influx, so far there had been no special incidents. The organizers said that at least 10,000 people were on site. A dpa reporter reported a massive influx and large crowds on both sides of the Brandenburg Gate, despite the sleet and cold. Several smaller counter-demonstrations with mostly double-digit numbers of participants were also registered in the vicinity of the Brandenburg Gate.
Some participants had flags with doves of peace with them. The organizers previously called for the renunciation of party and national flags. The Berlin authorities had forbidden the showing of certain symbols. The restrictions imposed by the assembly authority include wearing military uniforms and badges, showing the letters Z and V and “other war-glorifying symbolism” and “using Russian and Soviet military flags,” said the Berlin police on Saturday on Twitter with.
With the rally, Wagenknecht and Schwarzer want to underpin their demands for dealing with the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Two weeks ago they published a “Manifesto for Peace” in which they called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to “stop the escalation of arms deliveries”. The women’s rights activist and the left-wing politician call for a ceasefire and negotiations with Russia. Critics had accused Wagenknecht and Schwarzer of being “naive”.
Scholz and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) also made it clear that they did not share the conviction. One has to understand “that the Russian President currently only accepts one form of negotiations, namely that someone surrenders unconditionally and he implements all his goals,” said Scholz. On the other hand, more than 640,000 people signed the “manifesto” on the Internet by Saturday afternoon.
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