Anger over corona restrictions drives thousands to the streets. The protest reminds politicians of the refugee autumn 2015. There were no simple solutions then as now.
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Something is going wrong in the Republic right now. While measures to contain the corona pandemic are loosening at a rapid pace, the protest against precisely these restrictions continues to swell. Demonstrations have been announced for this weekend across the country, from Bergisch-Gladbach via Luckenwalde to Ulm. Around ten events were registered in Munich alone. Germany has experienced a vague unrest. How crude this unrest sometimes comes across is shown by the call of the “Democratic Resistance” from Berlin: “In this worsening situation, it is understandable that perceived pain, anger and aggression increase with all of us.” These groups keep firing themselves with such spirals of thought.
Some organizers also have legitimate concerns. The coach operators and landlords who struggle for their existence; as well as self-employed people who ask for more support and animal rights activists who fight against meat production. But the pandemic and its consequences also act as a catalyst for some egomaniacs who want to bring their theses to the people. In Stuttgart, entrepreneur Michael Ballweg managed to get 5000 people to his “lateral thinking” protests in the state capital last Saturday. He’d signed up half a million demonstrators for this weekend – a pretty megalomaniac corona party. The authorities approved 5000 people. How many will really come will have to be seen. “The corona crisis brings together a lot of people who don’t have much else in common,” says protest researcher Dieter Rucht. This included worried people as well as opponents of vaccination, radio mast fighters and “conspiracy tellers”.
However, more remarkable than this wild mix is the fact that the agitators are getting more and more resonance. The vast majority of Germans are satisfied with the corona policies of the federal and state governments. Nevertheless, thousands of people have flocked to the various demonstrations since the beginning of May. And that should also be due to the fact that right-wing radical co-organizers are promoting the protests. The AfD has long since started jumping on the train. In the Bundestag, she already played the role of the mouthpiece of the protests.
At the latest, the whole thing has become a problem for the government. From Markus Söder and Winfried Kretschmann to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, everyone explains that protests are legitimate and necessary in a democracy. At the same time, many in the Chancellery feel reminded of the 2015 refugee autumn. At that time, the government had increasingly lost the public debate after initially receiving great support. One who was at the forefront of politics at the time says today that almost everything seems like a déjà vu to him. Again, it was a big open-ended crisis; again the situation is extremely complicated; the longing for simple answers is growing again. And again the radical right try to profit from it. “The only difference is that the problems are even bigger today,” says the former minister.
The government wants to combat misinformation and conspiracy theories
Judging by this, the government’s first reactions soon appear inadequate. On Monday, the government spokesman said it was impossible to infer from a few thousand demonstrators that the mood was changing everywhere. If you listen to the government at the end of the same week, it sounds different. “Of course” you take it “very, very seriously,” says a central ministry. And the Chancellery is now pointing out that Angela Merkel has made as many appearances as she has not done for a long time – with a TV address, press conferences and telephone switching. In addition, there is “a lot of information that is in demand like never before” on the ministries’ websites. Nobody should be able to say that the government did not take proper care. She was often accused of this in the course of the refugee crisis.
The government itself no longer believes that this will be enough in view of the swelling protests. It seems to be a matter of fact that it will respond with numerous additional appearances and information in the coming weeks. Above all, she wants to counter her misinformation and conspiracy theories with her own information, considerations, goals. “We cannot be satisfied with 60 to 70 percent of people believing us,” says a senior official. “We have to and we will fight for everyone who is worried about their future.” That would happen with mind and heart, even if “one cannot simply switch on empathy”. This is also a reference to criticism from back then.
But one thing should not happen: that actors from the right margin are played down again. Not only the senior official says that; Markus Söder said that on Friday. “We cannot make the same mistake we made at Pegida in the beginning,” he warned.
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