BERLIN, January 21 Over 144 thousand people came out on Saturday At protests on the streets of German cities, protesters oppose right-wing extremism and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, reports Welt.
According to police data cited by the publication, 35 thousand people gathered at the demonstration in Hanover and the same number in Frankfurt, 20 thousand in Karlsruhe, 16 thousand in Halle, 12 thousand in Kassel, 10 thousand in Ulm, 5 thousand in Koblenz , 5 thousand in Freiburg, 6 thousand in Erfurt. There were also protests in a number of smaller cities across the country.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called members of the right-wing AfD party and other right-wing forces advocating the mass expulsion of foreigners “right-wing extremist enemies of democracy” and called on citizens of the country to continue protests against the party.
In Germany, the publication of Correctiv is being actively discussed, according to which a conference of far-right politicians took place near Potsdam at the end of November. Among other things, the meeting allegedly discussed the possibility of mass expulsion of millions of migrants from Germany. According to Correctiv, AfD representatives also took part in the event. A wave of protests swept through major German cities: thousands of people demonstrated against right-wing forces in Berlin, Potsdam, Essen and Cologne. Scholz expressed his gratitude to them.
In 2023, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution recognized the AfD branches in Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt as right-wing extremist. This decision will allow federal authorities to expand their arsenal of surveillance tools over the organization. At the federal level, the party is “suspected of extremism,” which is considered a lower threat. Last June, the German Institute for Human Rights published a report in which it stated that the conditions for banning the AfD had been met.
At the same time, the AfD has sharply gained popularity in the last six months: according to polls, its rating fluctuates in the range of 18-23%, which makes it the second most popular political force after the opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions (CDU/CSU ). The party, among other things, actively advocates limiting the influx of migrants and the need to begin peace negotiations in Ukraine. The party's opponents often accuse it of having close ties with Russia.