They form a human chain in front of the Reichstag and chant anti-fascist slogans: According to the police, approximately 150 thousand people are demonstrating in central Berlin against the far right, and more than two hundred peaceful marches are planned in the country.
“We are 300,000 people in Berlin and tens of thousands in the streets all over Germany and we are broadcasting live. You are crazy!” The organizers announced on X (formerly Twitter).
The square in front of the Reichstag, in the heart of the energy district, was crowded with people at midday. Many people who were unable to reach it were directed to the banks of the Spree River and to the neighboring Tiergarten Park, according to journalists at Agence France-Presse.
The crowd chanted “We are all against fascism” and a thousand people followed it live on YouTube.
France Press agency
“From the heart instead of hatred”, “Racism is not an alternative”, “Freedom and equality, damn the AfD”, referring to the anti-immigrant and anti-regime party, Alternative for Germany, we can read on the colorful banners of the AfD. The demonstrators.
The 200 marches planned in the country bear witness, as they have for several weeks, to the shock caused by the revelation on January 10 by German investigative media of a meeting of extremists in Potsdam, near Berlin, where it took place in November. , a plan for mass organization. The expulsion of foreigners or persons of foreign origin was discussed.
Against the backdrop of the economic slowdown and inflation, the Alternative for Germany party continues to advance in opinion polls, a few months before three important regional elections in the east of the country.
Margaret Hirth said: “I don’t know if these protests have an impact on AfD voters, but it is important to give a signal, because humanity disappears in relationships between people and we need more humanity and respect for our differences.” A 53-year-old teacher in Berlin told AFP.
The march was organized by the Hand in Hand movement, which brings together nearly 1,800 organizations, including Fridays for Future and the Citizens Coalition Compact.
Martin Rau, a 38-year-old university professor, came from Sweden for the occasion: “I came to be a role model. I was born in Germany.
France Press agency
“We all have to give ourselves strength, not give up, because the AfD is strong and the idea is to intimidate us,” said Jonas Schmidt, a train driver from Bremen. “We are showing here that we are more numerous than them.”
Law enforcement agencies in the capital said they had deployed 700 police officers to the site.
The city's public transport management company, BVG on
In Potsdam, the capital of the neighboring state of Brandenburg, a human chain was formed around the Landtag building, according to local media.
«What is this location in Eisenach, Homburg or Berlin: small houses and large villes from all the pays, small houses and towns that are assembled to reveal the whole world, including the house and the receipt of the house this week-end also. “It is a powerful sign of democracy and our constitution,” Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
“The AfD is developing increasingly radical forces. It is a far-right party. I am literally shocked every time I hear this hate speech,” Markus Söder, leader of the Christian Social Union, told the Rheinische Post.
“Where are we in Germany when the government calls for a demonstration against part of the population?” the AfD declared on Channel X, denouncing the “campaign against the only real opposition party in Germany.”
“Total coffee aficionado. Travel buff. Music ninja. Bacon nerd. Beeraholic.”
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