2024-01-14 15:54:00
After revelations about a meeting between right-wing extremists and AfD politicians in Potsdam, thousands of people demonstrated for democracy there. In Berlin, too, numerous people took to the streets against the right.
Thousands of people took a stand against the right in Potsdam on Sunday. Mayor Mike Schubert (SPD) called for the rally on the Old Market on the occasion of a meeting between radical right-wingers and AfD politicians in the Brandenburg state capital. He spoke of 10,000 participants. A police spokesman initially gave the rbb the number 2,000 on Sunday afternoon, but at that point the influx was still continuing.
Demonstrators held up posters with slogans such as “Potsdam is colorful” and “We stick together.” Among the participants were Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the Green Bundestag member and Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). “I stand here as one of thousands of Potsdam residents who stand up for democracy and against old and new fascism,” she told the German Press Agency.
Brandenburg’s Science Minister Manja Schüle (SPD) and faction leaders of the SPD, CDU, Greens and Left in the Brandenburg state parliament also took part in the rally.
AfD politicians are said to have discussed expulsions with identities in Potsdam
According to a “Correctiv” investigation, AfD representatives are said to have taken part in a meeting with the head of the Identitarian Movement. According to the information, a plan was discussed to expel migrants on a large scale, with or without a German passport.more
Demo in Berlin with several thousand people
The background to the protest is the reporting on a meeting in Potsdam at which a plan for the mass expulsion of migrants was discussed. “These plans are reminiscent of the darkest chapter in German history,” said Schubert. Therefore, it is time to show face and defend democracy. The media company “Correctiv” had researched a meeting between radical right-wing circles with extremists and AfD officials in Potsdam.
At the meeting, the leader of the right-wing extremist Identitarian movement, the Austrian Martin Sellner, presented ideas on how migrants and Germans with a migration background could be forced out of the country.
According to police counts, several thousand people also demonstrated at the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday afternoon. The organizers spoke of 25,000 participants, an rbb reporter estimated the number of participants at at least 8,000. The participants queued up to Wilhelmstrasse. According to the reporter, the atmosphere was peaceful and many families took part.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, January 14, 2024, 2:00 p.m
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