In recent days, millions of people have taken to the streets of Germany's major cities to take part in ** events against the Alternative For Many (AFD) party. The ** wave was sparked by a report released on January 10 by the investigative agency Correctiv, which revealed that members of the AFD discussed the topic of deportation of migrants and non-assimilated citizens at a meeting with extremists in Potsdam.
The ** wave sparked by the incident continued into Saturday and Sunday, with millions of people pouring into the streets again. The sheer scale of the wave has attracted widespread attention from the public and political circles. People hope to stop the expansion of the AFD Party by their own strength.
This wave has brought a new glimmer of hope to the German political landscape. In Sunday's election for the district magistrate of East Thuringia, CDU candidate Christian Herrgott narrowly defeated AFD candidate Uwe Thrum. The election is believed to be the first since that outrageous meeting.
It is reported that while this was only a minor victory, it was a relief result for the CDU and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Although the AFD came in second place in national polls, well above Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD, this ** wave has seen the number of people supporting the AFD drop by 15 percentage points. Germany's domestic intelligence agencies have listed two local branches of the AFD (Saxony and Thuringia) as "identified" extremist organizations. This classification gives intelligence agencies more surveillance powers as the AFD seeks to undermine democracy and make anti-immigrant rhetoric.
In the midst of this ** wave, people all over Germany took to the streets to express their dissatisfaction and anger. They called for unity and resistance to far-right political forces.
At an event in Stuttgart, a 56-year-old participant said that in many European countries, "people want to go back in time, and politicians are adopting a closed-minded rhetoric that focuses on their own countries and people." This is not the right path, this is the path to war......This nationalism must disappear. ”
For many, this event is about fighting for a better future for the next generation. A 60-year-old said she didn't want her children to live in a Nazi world. She was adamant that it was essential to resist the far right.
In response, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on people to stand up against extremism in his regular **. "Our democracy is not a gift from God, it is something we all maintain," he reminded. When it is threatened, we need to unite to protect it. ”