More than 100,000 people turned out across Germany on Saturday in protest against the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, which sparked an outcry after it emerged that the party’s members discussed mass deportation plans at a meeting of extremists.

In Frankfurt, about 35,000 people joined a call under the banner “Defend democracy – Frankfurt against the AfD”, marching in the financial heart of Germany. A similar number, some carrying posters like “Nazis out”, turned up in the northern city of Hanover.

Protests were also held in cities including Braunschweig, Erfurt and Kassel and many smaller towns, mirroring mobilisation every day over the past week. In all, demonstrations have been called in about 100 locations across Germany from Friday through the weekend, including in Berlin on Sunday.

Politicians, churches and Bundesliga coaches have all urged people to stand up against the AfD.

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  • Spzi@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    More than 100k across Germany?

    AFAIK it was 160k in Hamburg alone.

  • HollandJim@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I live next door (Netherlands) and I’m proud of today’s Germans. They know how to fight back on the extremist Right, unlike my country where they make them Prime Minister.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Protests were also held in cities including Braunschweig, Erfurt and Kassel and many smaller towns, mirroring mobilisation every day over the past week.

    The protests began after it emerged AfD party members had attended meetings with neo-Nazis and other extremists to discuss the mass deportation of migrants, asylum seekers and German citizens of foreign origin deemed to have failed to integrate.

    The anti-immigration party confirmed the presence of its members at the meeting, but has denied taking on the “remigration” project championed by Sellner.

    Leading politicians including 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”.

    Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition conservative CDU party, wrote online that it was “very encouraging that thousands of people are demonstrating peacefully against rightwing extremism”.

    Formed in 2013 as an anti-establishment, anti-euro force by academics and economists, the AfD has quickly morphed into an anti-immigrant party, ditching its original founders.


    The original article contains 532 words, the summary contains 171 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • nicerdicer@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      It is woth mentioning that Friedrich Merz made up accusations against refugees recieving free dental work in the past. He said: “Die sitzen beim Arzt und lassen sich die Zähne neu machen, und die deutschen Bürger nebendran kriegen keine Termine.” which translates to: “These [refugees] are sitting at the doctor and get their teeth done, and the German citizen does not get an appointment” This is grade-A-populism.

      Also, the CDU, the party Friedrich Merz is a member of, refused to participate in the protests against the raise of the Nazis with the reasoning, that the left party (die Linke) is participating as well, and that the CDU wouldn’t support anything the left party stands for.

      It it safe to say, that our democracy is theratened by the CDU as well. Also, because members of the CDU took part in a meeting which discussed the mass deportation of foreign people. The CDU party is quite hesitant to distance themselves from it. This meeting sparked the ongoing protests, where - as of today over 300,000 people participated in.

      Edit: spelling

  • Centurion@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    “Politicians, churches and Bundesliga coaches have all urged people to stand up against the AfD”

    Because they are fearing losing power. If you see statistics, AfD has strongest quotes in actual statistics, because so many citizens are unhappy with current politics 😂

  • Nowhereman@lemmy.stonansh.org
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    5 months ago

    Funny how it’s always undemocratic if it’s the right side of the spectrum. If people illegaly entered your country. You should be able to deport them, no?

    • crackajack@reddthat.com
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      5 months ago

      If you read the article, the deportation plan touches on those who are already German citizens by essentially paying them to “remigrate”. Remigration is often a right wing dog whistle.

    • InternationalBastard@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Bruh, they talk about even to deport Germans who oppose their politics. And as German we know that mass deportation is a dog whistle for killing .

      • DeadHorseX@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I think suggesting they’re proposing killing is a wild overstatement, but the prospect of mass deportations of German citizens – people born in Germany – is really disturbing.

        • InternationalBastard@lemmy.world
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          They talked about the ‘deportation’ 8km or 5miles away from Wannsee, where the OG Nazis planned the ‘deportation’ of Jews, communists, alcoholics and other minorities to Madagascar. And this was a dog whistle for Endlösung. So even if that’s the most horrifying outcome, it’s not a 'wild overstatement.

      • Nowhereman@lemmy.stonansh.org
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        5 months ago

        No they didn’t. Also 431200 ordered to leave the EU in 2022 alone! The only way to do something about this is mass deportation.

        • prole@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          the only way to do something

          See that’s the fundamental difference here. People who aren’t racist pieces of shit don’t see this as a situation where something must be done. Because multiculturalism is a good thing.

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          The only way to do something

          Never believe anyone in politics who says there’s only one way to do something. They’re trying to trick you from not seeing the very many other ways.

          As an engineer, rest assured, there is almost always another way to do something. I get paid to find them.

    • yetAnotherUser@feddit.de
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      5 months ago

      There are three target groups of migrants, he explains, who should be extradited from the country – or, as he puts it, “foreigners” who should undergo “reversed settlement”. They are: asylum seekers, non-Germans with residency rights, and “non-assimilated” German citizens. It is the latter that, in his view, would pose the biggest “challenge”.

      Silke Schröder, a property developer and board member of the right-leaning Verein Deutsche Sprache (German Language Association), wonders how re-migration would work in practice. Surely if a person has the “appropriate” passport it would be ” impossible”, wouldn’t it? For Sellner, this is just a detail. A “high level of pressure” will be exerted on people to adapt, he says, via “customised laws”. Re-migration won’t happen overnight; it is “a project that will take decades”.

      The masterplan even includes a destination to “move people to”, a so-called “model state” in North Africa, that would apparently provide space for up to two million people. There would even be educational and sport offers there. And anyone who lobbies on behalf of refugees could join them there, Sellner added.

      According to Sellner, the problem is “not just that foreigners live here. They also vote here.” “Ethnic voting” means that immigrants are likely to vote for “immigration-friendly” parties.

      Source