Europeans: demonstrations against the far right in Germany

Several tens of thousands of people demonstrated; Saturday in Germany, à the day before the European elections, to “say no” &agrav; the far right and to call à defend democracy at the ballot box.

In Berlin, the rally at the foot of the Victory Column mobilized some 30,000 demonstrators, according to the citizens' alliance Campact, one of the organizers alongside civil society, anti-racist and ecologists.

Demonstration against the far right, June 8, 2024 in Berlin © AFP – CHRISTIAN MANG

“Germany is diverse!”, “Stop the hatred”, “Down with racism”, proclaimed the demonstrators' signs. Waving yellow letters and the stars of the European flag, demonstrators formed the slogan “Go vote!” (Go vote) above the crowd, noted AFP journalists.

“There is no better way to defend democracy than to vote tomorrow,” said Tareq Alaows, of the refugee rights association ProAsyl, from the podium.

Several thousand people also responded to the call to demonstrate against the far right in Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dresden, Munich, Frankfurt.

Despite the scandals which punctuated its campaign for the European elections, the far-right party AfD (Alternative for Germany) hopes to achieve its best performance in this election on Sunday. In 2019, his list obtained nearly 11% of the votes. The anti-immigration and critical party towards the EU is given, in the latest polls, around 15%, neck and neck for second place with the social democratic party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the ecologists, allies of the government coalition.

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Demonstration against the far right, June 8, 2024 in Berlin © AFP – CHRISTIAN MANG

The AfD has been hit in recent months by several affairs which have slowed its progress. His head of the European list had to be sidelined urgently after one of his collaborators was implicated in an investigation for espionage for the benefit of China.

At the beginning of the year, an investigative media revealed that members of the party had participated in an identity meeting during which a plan for the mass expulsion of foreigners or foreigners from Germany The foreign origin had been discussed.

These revelations shocked the country and led to massive demonstrations against the far right for several weeks.

Demonstration against the far right, June 8, 2024 in Berlin © AFP – CHRISTIAN MANG

During the last meeting of the campaign for Europeans in Germany, Olaf Scholz also called on voters to go to the polls on Sunday, seeing the vote as “a great celebration of freedom”

“We are delighted that we can vote on the political direction of the European Union”, he said in Duisburg, in western Germany , calling to “defend the rule of law and democracy”.

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