As of: January 19, 2024, 8:40 p.m
By: Maximilian Gang
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The Correctiv investigations into the secret meeting in Potsdam have triggered a veritable wave of protests.
Tens of thousands demonstrated against the right - and the AfD.
An overview
Berlin – A “foretaste of what could happen if the AfD comes to power”.
This is how the research network Correctiv
described
its revelations about the secret right-wing meeting in Potsdam.
In addition to right-wing extremists and members of the controversial Union of Values, senior AfD members were also present.
The participants are said to have discussed the possibilities of “remigrating” people with a migration background, de facto deporting people based on racist criteria.
Many people have had enough - and are opposing the right-wing populists.
After Correctiv revelations: calls for protests against the AfD
Politicians, organizations, unions and football clubs: after the Correctiv revelations, they all called for protests against the AfD at the Potsdam secret meeting.
For some, the direction of travel is now clear: not a step further to the right.
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil told the
editorial network Germany
: “All sensible people who have been quiet so far must now also become loud.”
And in the past few days, many people have become exactly that: loud.
Demonstrations took place in numerous cities across Germany - with tens of thousands of participants.
More than 30,000 people protest against the right in Hamburg
In Hamburg alone, more than 30,000 people took to the streets against the right on Friday (December 19th).
The number continued to increase in the afternoon, police said.
The organizers, an alliance of trade unions, churches, cultural workers, business associations, parties and clubs, spoke of 35,000 participants.
The police had originally expected 10,000 demonstrators.
Among other things, Mayor Peter Tschentscher was invited to speak.
Anyone planning the deportation of migrants is a radical enemy of the constitution, said the SPD politician.
“The message to the AfD and its right-wing networks is that we are the majority.”
They are determined to defend the rule of law - the many thousands of people are an impressive sign of this, said Tschentscher.
The protest had previously been moved from the Rathausmarkt to Jungfernstieg.
The reason for this was a faction meeting of the AfD that was registered at short notice.
In this case, a 350 meter ban circle applies around the town hall.
Protest against the right with tens of thousands of participants in Cologne
After the Correctiv revelations, tens of thousands demonstrated in Cologne against the right-wing and the AfD.
© Oliver Berg/dpa
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In Cologne, an estimated “several tens of thousands” protested peacefully against the AfD on Tuesday evening, a police spokesman said.
The protest march stretched from the Deutzer Werft to Heumarkt – a distance of over a kilometer.
Participants on site waved rainbow and EU flags.
Their posters had slogans like “We are colorful!
We are more!”, “AfD – pioneers of fascism” and “Nazis secretly eat kebabs”.
25,000 participants at anti-AfD demo in Berlin
Climate activist Luisa Neubauer was one of the speakers at the demonstration against the right in Berlin.
© Manngold/Imago
In Berlin, several thousand people demonstrated in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday (January 14th) under the motto “Defend Democracy”.
A spokeswoman for the climate activists from Fridays for Future, who also called for the protest against right-wing extremism, put the number of participants at 25,000.
Luisa Neubauer, probably the best-known face of the group in this country, was invited to speak.
Left leader Janine Wissler was also there.
Banners read “AfD is not an alternative”.
Here too, according to the police, the protests remained uneventful.
“Against old and new fascism”: Scholz and Baerbock take part in demos
At the same time, following a call from Mayor Mike Schubert (SPD), a number of people took to the streets against the right in Potsdam.
Schubert spoke of 10,000 participants.
In addition to the parliamentary group leaders of the SPD, CDU, Greens and Left from the Brandenburg state parliament, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) also came to the rally on the Altmarkt.
“I stand here as one of thousands of Potsdam residents who stand up for democracy and against old and new fascism.”
In Kiel, the police counted around 7,000 demonstrators on Sunday evening.
The organizers, an alliance of democratic and civil society organizations, were expecting 500 people, said Leon Martin from the Green Youth Kiel group.
The fact that the number of participants ultimately exceeded expectations many times over was a “powerful and clear signal,” he emphasized.
“We need a politics of solidarity that clearly opposes fascism and stands up for a diverse and democratic society.”
Further protests with thousands of participants expected across Germany
There were also demonstrations in numerous other cities in Germany.
There is no end in sight to the protest against the right-wing and the AfD: thousands of people are expected on the streets in the southwest of the Federal Republic this weekend.
The organizers are expecting 3,000 participants in Heidelberg alone on Saturday.
Given the recent experiences from other cities, it remains to be seen whether the number will remain the same.
Protests will also take place in many places in Saxony on Sunday, including in Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz and Görlitz.
After the Correctiv revelations, thousands of people in Germany protested against the right in recent days, like here in Schwerin.
© Ulrich Perrey/dpa
The AfD itself is trying to downplay Correctiv's reporting.
It was not a “secret meeting,” but a “private event,” said Bernd Baumann, parliamentary director of the AfD parliamentary group.
Party leader Alice Weidel described it as scandalous that such a meeting was spied on by “activists”.
For political and communications consultant Johannes Hillje, the strategy of the right-wing populists is clear, as he recently told
FR.de
from IPPEN.MEDIA: They want to achieve a “scandal reversal” – and portray themselves as victims.
(mg)