Thousands in Germany protest the rise of the far right ahead of next month’s election
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BERLIN — Tens of thousands of Germans on Saturday protested in Berlin and other cities against the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party ahead of the Feb. 23 general election.
At Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing Alternative for Germany, or AfD. Activists said they hoped the rally also would draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new U.S. administration of President Trump.
“Those who fuel racism and attack climate protection are not just campaigning, they are endangering lives,” Luisa Neubauer with the Fridays for Future climate group told the crowd, which police estimated at 35,000. Police estimated the crowd at the Cologne rally at 40,000.
Europe’s largest economy has been shaken after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed late last year in a dispute over how to revitalize amid stagnation.
The multibillionaire’s newfound prominence in policymaking for the incoming Trump administration has a growing parallel across the Atlantic.
Saturday’s protests took place while AfD opened its election campaign in the central city of Halle, where party leader Alice Weidel, AfD’s candidate for chancellor, spoke to about 4,500 people.
Weidel has the backing of Elon Musk, a close Trump advisor and the world’s richest man, who addressed the rally remotely. His open support has caused an uproar in Germany.
Mainstream parties have declared they will not work with the AfD. The opposition center-right Union bloc and its candidate for chancellor, Friedrich Merz, top preelection polls, followed by the AfD.
Germany is to vote on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed in a dispute over the stagnant economy.
Merz has said his party will soon bring motions to parliament to toughen migration policy, one of the main election issues. That potentially leaves Merz open to accusations of breaking long-standing pledges not to work directly or indirectly with the AfD, if the motions go to a vote and pass with the party’s help.
Merz earlier vowed to bar people from entering the country without proper papers, and to step up deportations if he is elected chancellor. His comments came after a knife attack in Aschaffenburg by a rejected asylum seeker left a man and a 2-year-old boy dead.
