According to the German security authorities, right-wing extremists are trying to make use of the protests against corona requirements. “We see a trend that extremists, especially right-wing extremists, are exploiting the demonstration,” said the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, the “Welt am Sonntag”. A spokeswoman for the Federal Criminal Police Office also stressed in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” that the right-wing camp was increasingly being addressed by the demonstrations.
On Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets in numerous German cities against restrictions in the Corona crisis. There were also counter demonstrations.
Haldenwang said right-wing extremists were following bourgeois spectra and calling on supporters to actively participate in the protests. “There is a risk that right-wing extremists will use their enemy images and state-destroying goals to lead the Corona demonstrations, which are currently being carried out by citizens who are in line with the constitution.” There is indeed no shoulder to shoulder of the heterogeneous protest audience. “But we are concerned that extremists are using the current situation as well as in the so-called refugee crisis.”
According to the BKA spokeswoman, the Federal Criminal Police Office also has no information about “coordinated infiltration by right-wing extremists”. But it should be recognized that they tried to “instrumentalize the current situation for their propaganda purposes”. According to research by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”, extreme right-wing parties such as The Third Way, The Right or the NPD are calling on their supporters to join the protests.
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Politicians see “wolves in sheep’s clothing”
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) told the “F.A.S.” that many people were concerned about their existence. Therefore, quick action is necessary. “We are also preventing right-wing radicals and conspiracy theorists from setting the tone,” emphasized the Interior Minister. CDU general secretary Paul Ziemiak warned that demonstrations “are being infiltrated and abused by extremists, this will endanger our society.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) showed little understanding for the protests. “The facts are so clear on the table that you cannot seriously discuss whether Corona is a conspiracy,” he told “Bild am Sonntag”. “I take every political expression seriously, but in this case it is difficult for me to deal with it,” said the SPD politician.
The North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul told the “Welt am Sonntag”: “There are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing trying to sneak into the middle of society with their anti-democratic slogans.” SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich called the Citizens to distance themselves from extremists and conspiracy theorists in such demonstrations. “There should be learning processes with whom you make friends and who you don’t,” Mützenich told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
The chairman of the conference of interior ministers, Thuringia’s head of department Georg Maier, said: “We are seeing that there is a certain extremist mobilization potential and an attempt to undermine the corona protests. But there are also legitimate protests. “It is difficult to condemn all protests in bulk,” the SPD politician told the editorial network in Germany.
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Demonstrations in several German cities
Several thousand people gathered again in numerous German cities on Saturday to demonstrate against the coronavirus restrictions. Only 5000 participants were allowed at the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart this time. As more demonstrators came, numerous people also came together outside the designated area.
In Munich, the authorized number of participants for the demonstration on the Oktoberfest site was 1000. They protested peacefully on the closed-off site. A good 2,500 people had gathered next to the area, according to the police, regulations about the minimum distance were violated.
The police were in Berlin with around 1,000 forces because of several demonstrations in action. The well-known chef Attila Hildmann held a rally at the Reichstag building, several hundred people followed his call, but only 50 participants were allowed. Hildmann was most recently noticed with the spread of conspiracy theories. Alexanderplatz and the Volksbühne, where thousands have gathered in the past few weeks, were largely closed off. There were several counter protests, but there were no major incidents. In Frankfurt am Main, the police counted around 1,500 people during demonstrations on both sides.
Demonstrations with some hundreds of participants and sometimes accompanied by counter-protests also took place in Hamburg, Cologne, Dortmund, Essen, Leipzig and Dresden. Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer stood in front of the demonstrators for an hour and a half in the Saxon capital. He had to face numerous critical questions, some participants abused him, others paid respect to the CDU politician. (dpa)
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