More people came together in the Hanseatic city than expected. But for the safety of the participants, the organizers ended the rally earlier than planned.
A demonstration against the right-wing and the AfD in Hamburg was canceled due to the large number of people. “We have to end the rally early,” said Kazim Abaci from the Entrepreneurs Without Borders association, which co-organized the demonstration under the motto “Hamburg stands up – together against right-wing extremism and neo-Nazi networks.” He cited safety concerns. People in the crowd have already collapsed and the fire department can no longer get through.
After Abaci initially spoke of 130,000 participants in the Jungfernstieg, the organizers later corrected the number to 80,000. Police said there were 50,000 demonstrators.
Anti-right-wing demonstrations are planned across Germany this weekend. Tens of thousands of participants are expected. Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) said on Friday evening: “The message to the AfD and its right-wing networks is: We are the majority, and we are strong because we are united and because we are determined to protect our country and our democracy after 1945 not to let it be destroyed a second time.” In the past few days, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets against the right in several cities.
The demonstrations took place after a report by the media company Correctiv about a meeting of right-wing radicals on November 25th in Potsdam. Several AfD politicians took part, as did individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Union of Values. The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” there. When right-wing extremists use this term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress.
