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PROTESTS

In Pictures: Thousands stand up against Germany’s far-right AfD

Thousands took to the streets over the weekend to protest against Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) during its federal party conference. Here are the developments in pictures.

Published: 30 July 2023 11:18 CEST
In Pictures: Thousands stand up against Germany's far-right AfD
The lettering on a placard reads 'Bjoern Hoecke is a Nazi' as members of the German citizen initiative "Omas gegen rechts" (Grannies Against the Right) demonstrate against the 14th federal party congress of German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD - Alternative für Deutschland) at the trade fair in Magdeburg, eastern Germany. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

Protesters gathered in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday and Saturday, waving banners and sticking ‘Nazis out’ messages on brooms, sweeping as they marched.

“We stand for a cosmopolitan Magdeburg, Germany and Europe,” stated the Omas gegen Rechts (Grannies against the far-right) group.

As around 600 delegates of the AfD party gathered to choose its candidates for next year’s European parliamentary elections, protesters outside shouted, “Nationalism out of our heads”.

(Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

The group Solidarisches Magdeburg (Magdeburg in Solidarity), the national alliance Aufstehen gegen Rassismus (Stand up against racism), the Nazi victims’ association known as VVN-BdA and members of the trade unions joined the elderly demonstrators.

READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: Are far-right sentiments growing in eastern Germany?

(Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

Heide, a member of the Omas gegen Rechts, told reporters, “The AfD, they are a Nazi party and we’re fighting against them.”

“I lived to see the end of the war. That’s enough for me,” she added.

(Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

Jan Renner, spokesperson for the Solidarisches Magdeburg alliance, said, “The AfD is not interested in a peaceful Europe and international cooperation, it pursues a radical nationalist course in which Germany should always come first.

“We’ve had that in this country before and we don’t need it again.”

(Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

As the far-right political group gains popularity, members deny it’s a Nazi party, reported Reuters.

The AfD is currently polling at 20.5 percent, in second place behind the opposition conservatives’ 25 percent, according to the latest data.

READ MORE: German far right says ‘ready for more’ after poll surge

Following the AfD’s first win for a district leader last month, the party’s head Alice Weidel told Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Saturday, “Germany has realised that the right is the future,” adding that, “The voices are getting louder”.

The party envisages Europe being made up of “sovereign nation-states instead of an EU superstate” and it wants “free citizens instead of paternalism and bureaucratic control.”

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PROTESTS

Climate activists demonstrate at several German airports

Climate activists from the Last Generation (Letzte Generation) movement demonstrated against climate-damaging air traffic at several airports in Germany on Saturday, although no flight operations were affected. 

Published: 10 August 2024 19:18 CEST
Climate activists demonstrate at several German airports

In one terminal at Dortmund Airport, activists poured black-coloured paste on the floor and held up posters with the words “Oil kills,” the group said.

At Stuttgart Airport, meanwhile, 14 activists demonstrated with posters, banners, flyers and speeches, according to the police.

At Sylt Airport, one of the activists sat on the wing of a parked private jet, police in Harrislee near Flensburg said.

However, the police were able to prevent the person from glueing themselves to the wing.

In total, three members of the Last Generation group managed to enter the airport by cutting through the fence with bolt cutters.

All three were provisionally arrested with criminal charges filed for, among other things, property damage and dangerous interference with air traffic.

Speaking about their protest at Dortmund Airport, the activists said that flights were still being offered from there to Munich, explaining that these were “unnecessary domestic flights” that were “particularly harmful”.

READ ALSO: Why are Last Generation activists in Germany getting prison sentences?

And regarding their protest at Sylt Airport, the group said it was “absurd” that flights were taking off from Sylt to Düsseldorf, Munich or Frankfurt every day.

“Airplanes burn oil and gas: fossil fuels that pose a massive threat to our existence.”

In recent weeks, climate activists from the Last Generation temporarily paralysed flight operations at Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt am Main, at Cologne/Bonn Airport, and temporarily blocked cargo operations at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

On Thursday, the organisation said that eight apartments belonging to its activists were searched. It said it would expand its protest despite the “massive attempt at intimidation by the authorities.”

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