Tens of thousands of people gathered across Germany to protest the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party after it emerged that party members discussed mass deportation plans at a meeting of extremists. The influx of demonstrators was so large in Munich that organizers were forced to cancel a planned march and ask people to disperse for safety reasons. Organizers said some 50,000 people had turned up to the demonstration, twice as many as were registered for the event. Demonstrations were called in some 100 locations across Germany from Friday through the weekend, including in Munich, Berlin, and cities in the east of the country where the AfD has its strongholds.
The wave of mobilization against the far-right party was sparked by a Jan 10 report by investigative outlet Correctiv, which revealed that AfD members had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and “non-assimilated citizens” at a meeting with extremists. Among the participants at the talks was Martin Sellner, a leader of Austria’s Identitarian Movement, which subscribes to the “great replacement” conspiracy theory that claims there is a plot by non-white migrants to replace Europe’s “native” white population.
News of the gathering sent shockwaves across Germany at a time when the AfD is soaring in opinion polls, just months ahead of three major regional elections in eastern Germany where their support is strongest. The anti-immigration party confirmed the presence of its members at the meeting but has denied taking on the “remigration” project championed by Sellner.
Politicians, as well as church leaders and Bundesliga football managers, have called on people to make a stand against the far right. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who joined a demonstration last weekend, said any plan to expel immigrants or citizens alike amounted to “an attack against our democracy, and in turn, on all of us”. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser went so far as to say in the newspapers of the Funke press group that the far-right meeting was reminiscent of “the horrible Wannsee conference”, where the Nazis planned the extermination of European Jews in 1942.
The protests against the far-right AfD party in Germany have gained momentum after it emerged that party members discussed mass deportation plans at a meeting of extremists. The wave of mobilization against the far-right party was sparked by a Jan 10 report by investigative outlet Correctiv, which revealed that AfD members had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and “non-assimilated citizens” at a meeting with extremists. The protests have been called in some 100 locations across Germany from Friday through the weekend, including in Munich, Berlin, and cities in the east of the country where the AfD has its strongholds.