The right-wing meeting in a villa in Potsdam leads to protests against the rise of the AfD. Tens of thousands in Cologne are calling for the party to be banned.
More than 10,000 people demonstrated against the AfD in Cologne that evening. The crowd was large, the side streets to the Heumarkt rally site were overcrowded. The area was “completely at capacity,” said a police spokesman. The police estimated the number of participants at “several tens of thousands.” The mood is “consistently peaceful.”
A dpa reporter on site reported a peaceful atmosphere. There was live music and participants waved EU and rainbow flags. The demonstrators’ posters contained slogans such as “We are colorful! We are more!”, “AfD – pioneers of fascism” and “Nazis secretly eat kebab.” There were calls to consider banning the party. The participants also emphasized that democracy is resilient.
In Schwerin, too, many people demonstrated against the rise of the AfD and against right-wing extremism. According to police information, around 1,600 Schwerin residents followed the call “Loud against the right”. The campaign was initiated by the climate protection movement Fridays for Future in Schwerin, which received broad support from parties, unions and associations.
The reason for the demonstrations was the recently announced right-wing meeting in a villa in Potsdam. The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” last November. Right-wing extremists usually mean that a large number of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress. In response to this, there were several demonstrations nationwide over the weekend.
