Protests against AfD: Thousands demonstrate for a colorful Hesse!

Protests against AfD: Thousands demonstrate for a colorful Hesse!

At the weekend, thousands of people in Hesse demonstrated against the AfD and the current CDU course. According to the police, around 5,500 participants in a rally took to the streets in Kassel on a rally under the motto "Brandmauer Kassel"; The organizers even reported 8,500 participants. The trigger for the protests was a controversial application for migration from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, which was decided with votes from the AfD in the Bundestag. This application provides for more rejections to the limits and more consistent deportations, which caused great outrage in the opposition. Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized the coordination as a "bad sign for Parliament and Germany" and expressed that he could no longer trust Friedrich Merz after this decision. SPD, the Greens and Linke were indignant about the developments in migration policy, which were enforced with the support of the AfD. This brought the protesters to action and mobilized them against this political turn, which they consider dangerous.

Among the organizers of the Hesse protests were groups such as "Kassel against the right", "Seebrücke Kassel", "Fridays for Future" and "Students for Future Kassel". The demonstration was peaceful, the police also reported. In another part of Hesse, in Neu-Isenburg, around 9,000 people protested on Saturday against an AfD campaign event, in which the candidate for chancellor Alice Weidel spoke. These protests were essentially peaceful, but there were smaller interference and blockages. The police had to use pepper spray and batons after some people tried to break through a barrier. There were several arrests in this context, with the suspicious pyrotechnics and grilling founders found. A injured person was also reported in the event of a second incident and advertisements were received for property damage.

criticism of the Union

The Union's migration application, which was adopted with the support of the AfD, led to sharp criticism. Rolf Mützenich, SPD parliamentary group leader, named the application "carelessly and unlawful". The co-chair of the Green Group, Katharina Dröge, described the day of the vote as "black day for our democracy". It asked the Union to rebuild the "fire wall" to the extreme right. Heidi Reichinnek, the top candidate of the left, criticized the Union's cooperation with the AfD and spoke of a "dam break". Merz regretted the vote that led to the majority with the AfD and offered to take up new negotiations with the SPD and the Greens.

There are already other protests for the evening: In Gelnhausen there will be a “light chain against hatred and agitation”, organized by “Hand on heart” and the alliance “We are more!”. This movement is an immediate reaction to the current political currents and shows the growing commitment of civil society against rights ideologies.

in Berlin demonstrated several hundred people in front of the CDU headquarters against the coordination of the Union and AfD. The police estimated the number of participants of this demonstration on around 650. These relevant protests and the reactions to it not only reflect the political mood in the country, but also the increasing resistance against a political agenda perceived as threatening.