Thousands Protest Chancellor Merz‘s “Cityscape” Remarks in Multiple Cities
Thousands of peopel took to the streets in cologne, Münster, and Heidelberg to protest recent statements made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) regarding the “cityscape.” Demonstrations occurred despite challenging weather conditions, with attendance exceeding initial registration numbers.All protests reported by police were peaceful.
In Münster, the “Not a meter to the Nazis” alliance organized a rally that drew approximately 1,400 participants according to police counts, while organizers estimated attendance at 1,600. Protestors carried banners with slogans including “All daughters confirm that the pain threshold has been reached” and “Ene Mene Meck Merz must go.” Alliance spokesman Carsten Peters, a Green Party councilor, stated on Instagram, “There should be no room for ethnic rhetoric,” and criticized Merz’s statements as “discriminatory, derogatory and racist,” arguing thay divide society and strengthen the extreme right. He added, “The AfD will not be weakened by adopting its slogans and policy content.”
The managing director of the CDU district association in Münster, David Sperling, responded to the demonstrations, calling them “defamatory and a clear transgression of boundaries.” He criticized the green Party’s assertion of proximity between the CDU and extremists as “consciously unrealistic and intentionally deceptive.”
Cologne saw protestors carrying signs like “Less Merz in the cityscape” and “Not my Chancellor,” under the motto “We are the daughters – Cologne for a feminist and colorful cityscape!”. The rally was supported by groups including “Fridays for Future” (FFF) and “Together Against the Right.” Police reported around 1,200 participants, while FFF later claimed approximately 5,000 demonstrators.
Organizers in Cologne accused Merz of exploiting women’s safety concerns to justify exclusion.”I don’t want to be exploited by Friedrich Merz,” said organizer Lilith Rein.”Feminism must never be used as a cover for racism and discrimination.”
A similar presentation took place in Heidelberg, attracting around 1,350 participants under the motto “For a beautiful cityscape.”
The protests stem from Merz’s comments regarding migration policy.He initially stated the federal government was correcting past failures and making progress on returns, noting, “But of course we still have this problem in the cityscape, and that is why the Federal Minister of the Interior is now in the process of enabling and carrying out returns on a very large scale.”
Merz afterward defended his remarks,asking,”Ask your daughters what I could have meant by that,” and later clarified that his concerns related to migrants without permanent residence status,employment,or adherence to German rules.
Source: dpa/rct
