More than 100,000 people demonstrated across Germany on Saturday against the AfD, a nationalist right-wing party whose members have recently discussed the mass expulsion of foreigners.
Some 35,000 people gathered in Frankfurt, the stronghold of German finance, behind a banner “
Defend democracy - Frankfurt against the AfD
”.
A similar number of demonstrators converged in Hanover (north), some holding “
Nazis out
” signs.
Demonstrators in Frankfurt.
KAI PFAFFENBACH / REUTERS
Protests were reported in Braunschweig, Erfurt, Kassel and many other smaller towns, mirroring the daily mobilizations this week.
In total, from Friday to Sunday evening, calls for demonstrations were launched in around a hundred places, including Berlin on Sunday.
Politicians, religious leaders and coaches from the Bundesliga, the German football championship, have called on the population to mobilize to ban the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Also read: Germany considers banning its far-right party
The movement was triggered by the revelation on January 10 by the German investigative media Correctiv of a meeting in Potsdam, near Berlin where, in November, a plan for mass expulsion of people of foreign origin, known as " remigration” was discussed.
Among the participants were a figure from the radical identity movement, the Austrian Martin Sellner, and members of the AfD.
The revelation shook Germany as the AfD soars in the polls, a few months before three important regional elections in the east of the country, where the party has the most supporters.
A protester in Erfurt.
JENS SCHLUETER / AFP
The anti-immigration movement confirmed the presence of its members at the meeting, but denied adhering to the “
remigration
” project carried by Martin Sellner.
Many political leaders, including Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who took part in a demonstration last weekend, have stressed that any plan to expel people of foreign origin is an attack on democracy.
Olaf Scholz called on “
everyone to take a stand – for cohesion, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany
”.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the conservative CDU party, said it was “
very encouraging that thousands of people are demonstrating peacefully against extremism
”.
But in addition to members of the AfD, two members of the CDU, belonging to Werteunion, the right wing of the party, also participated in the meeting disclosed by Correctiv.
Werteunion leader Hans-Georg Maassen announced his split from the CDU on Saturday.
The group claims 4,000 members.