BERLIN, GERMANY – JANUARY 25: Protesters hold up the lights of their mobile phones in a sea of lights demonstration against right-wing extremism and Donald Trump on January 25, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. A variety of civil rights and environmental groups have organized the event as a public show of resistance against the threats to democracy posed by right-wing politicians and parties. In their statement the organizers also name U.S. President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk as endangering civil society through their willing use of disinformation for political gain. (Photo by Omer Messinger/Getty Images)
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BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of Germans on Saturday protested in Berlin and other cities against the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the Feb. 23 general election.
At Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing AfD. Activists said they hoped the rally also would draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Those who fuel racism and attack climate protection are not just campaigning, they are endangering lives,” Luisa Neubauer with the Fridays for Future climate group told the crowd, which police estimated at 35,000. Police estimated the crowd at the Cologne rally at 40,000.
Europe’s largest economy has been shaken after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed late last year in a dispute over how to revitalize amid stagnation.
Saturday’s protests took place while AfD opened its election campaign in the central city of Halle, where party leader Alice Weidel, AfD’s candidate for chancellor, spoke to about 4,500 people.
HALLE, GERMANY – JANUARY 25: Tech billionaire Elon Musk speaks live via a video transmission during a speech by Alice Weidel, chancellor candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party, at the AfD election campaign launch rally on January 25, 2025 in Halle, Germany. Musk is an outspoken supporter of the AfD and is urging German voters to cast their ballots for the party. The AfD is currently in second place in polls ahead of federal parliamentary snap elections scheduled for February 23. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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Weidel has the backing of Elon Musk, who addressed the rally remotely. His open support has caused an uproar in Germany.
Mainstream parties have declared they will not work with the AfD. The opposition center-right Union bloc and its candidate for chancellor, Friedrich Merz, top pre-election polls, followed by the far-right party.
Merz said Friday his party next week will bring motions to Parliament to toughen migration policy, one of the main election issues. That potentially leaves Merz open to accusations of breaking longstanding pledges not to work directly or indirectly with the AfD, if the motions go to a vote and pass with the party’s help.
Merz earlier vowed to bar people from entering the country without proper papers, and to step up deportations if he is elected chancellor. His comments came after a knife attack in Aschaffenburg by a rejected asylum-seeker left a man and a 2-year-old boy dead.
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