:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/DAQDXKFHJVBE7N6XQUMJ5BTW74.jpg "Thousands of people, including the chancellor, protest against the extreme right in Germany")
BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of people, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his foreign minister, protested in Germany on Sunday against the far-right, following a report that extremists recently met to discuss the deportation of millions of immigrants. among them German citizens, if they assume power.
There were protests in Potsdam, outside Berlin, and at the Brandenburg Gate in the German capital. They were held after a demonstration on Saturday in the western city of Duisburg.
Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock represent the Potsdam area in the German parliament, and Baerbock told German news agency dpa that she attended the rally there as one of thousands of citizens “defending democracy and “They oppose old and new fascism.”
Last week, investigative journalism outlet Correctiv reported on the alleged far-right meeting in November, which they said was attended by figures from the extremist Identitarian Movement and the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD. A prominent member of the Identitarian Movement, Austrian citizen Martin Sellner, presented his “remigration” vision for deportations.
Potsdam Mayor Mike Schubert said “these plans recall the darkest chapter in German history.”
AfD has sought to distance itself from the meeting, pointing out that it had no organizational or financial link to the event, that members who apparently attended did so in a purely personal capacity, and that it was not responsible for what was discussed there.
The furor has sparked some calls for Germany to consider banning the AfD, which has moved steadily to the right since its founding in 2013. Many of its opponents have spoken out against the idea, arguing that the process will be long and that success It’s very important. uncertain and could benefit the party by allowing it to take on a victim role.