Germany erupts in mass protests against CDU/CSU-AfD alliance
In Germany, protests are ongoing against the joint voting by CDU/CSU and Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Bundestag regarding stricter migration policies. In Berlin, 160,000 people participated in Sunday's demonstration, and protests occurred in many other German cities.
According to the organizers, the protest in the German capital gathered up to 250,000 participants, while about 20,000 demonstrators were expected, as reported by the rbb station portal. A police spokesman informed rbb that about 160,000 people participated in the demonstration.
Public commentator Michel Friedman, who left the CDU in protest a few days ago, described AfD as a "party of hate" in his speech at the beginning of the Berlin demonstration. Friedman called the fact that the CDU and CSU Christian Democratic parties voted together with AfD for stricter migration policies an "unforgivable mistake," reported rbb24.
Demonstrations also took place in other German cities. In Saarbruecken, about 15,000 people gathered, and in Kiel, there were between 13,000 and 14,000 participants. In Regensburg, 20,000 people took to the streets to express opposition to racism and the Christian Democrats’ asylum policy.
On Saturday, protests were held in Hamburg with around 65,000 participants and in Essen with 14,000 demonstrators. Protests also occurred in Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Brunswick.
Reaction to the vote in the Bundestag
According to Campact, the organizationle for organizing the protests, over the weekend, nearly 700,000 people across Germany took to the streets to protest against AfD, and the "Berliner Berliner Zeitung portal wrote about it.
On Wednesday, the Bundestag, with a narrow majority, supported the Christian Democrats' proposal to introduce permanent controls at German state borders. This was achieved with the votes of the previously isolated AfD, which outraged some members of the German public and politicians. However, on Friday, the draft law limiting immigration did not achieve a majority in the German parliament.
