As of: January 13, 2024 8:11 a.m
A meeting of right-wing extremists and AfD members in Potsdam also caused horror in Hamburg. On Friday evening, around 2,000 people demonstrated in front of the AfD party headquarters in downtown Hamburg.
The event was registered by the Jusos Hamburg Nord under the name “Demo against the fascist deportation plans of the AfD and the Values Union,” as the police announced. “The demonstration was peaceful, there were no crimes,” said a spokesman.
Secret meeting with AfD participation in Potsdam
At the meeting in Potsdam, the deportation of millions of migrants was discussed. Four members of the AfD, some of them high-ranking, are said to have taken part in the meeting with right-wing extremists in November, including the Austrian neo-Nazi Martin Sellner. At least one CDU member and members of the ultra-conservative values union, which does not belong to the CDU but felt connected to it for a long time, were also said to have been there. According to research by Correctiv, it was discussed in the hotel in Brandenburg how millions of people with a migrant background should be expelled from Germany after a possible takeover of power – and German citizens who do not fit in with the right-wing extremists at the same time.
A broad alliance had called for a demonstration in Hamburg
The call for the demonstration on Friday evening said that the plans were “a despicable attack on the lives of many millions of people in Germany and our democracy.” There is no place for fascists and their supporters in Hamburg. A broad alliance of groups, associations and parties called for the rally.
Demo organizer: “AfD threatens people”
The demonstrators took to the streets to take a stand against right-wing extremism and the AfD. On posters there were inscriptions such as “Whoever votes for AfD, votes for hate. Whoever votes for hate, kills people” or “Colourful instead of brown”. Demo organizer Leo Schneider from the Jusos Hamburg Nord told NDR 90.3: “We are here because the AfD is threatening people. We as a society want to stand in front of these people to protect them from the AfD.” During the rally, police buses were parked in streets around Schmiedestrasse. Police officers blocked the entrance to the AfD office.
AUDIO: Demo in front of the party headquarters of the Hamburg AfD (1 min)
Around 80 people protested in front of the AfD headquarters in Hamburg on Thursday evening.
Hamburg’s AfD is distancing itself
The Hamburg AfD distanced itself from the meeting in Potsdam on Thursday. State and parliamentary group leader Dirk Nockemann said in the NDR Hamburg Journal: “For me it is completely insane to go to an event where someone speaks who, like Mr. Sellner – I would say – represents certain popular terms, that is out of the question for me .” At the federal level, however, the AfD did not publicly and clearly distance itself from the meeting.
Videos
3 Min
Together with right-wing extremists, party members had apparently discussed plans for deportations after a possible takeover of power. 3 mins
CDU: “Very roughly right-wing extremist”
The Hamburg CDU clearly differentiated itself from the AfD. Christoph de Vries, CDU member of the Bundestag Hamburg-Mitte, said in the direction of the AfD: “A party that meets with right-wing extremists and makes joint plans to expel German citizens who have an immigration history en masse is grossly right-wing extremist and does not stand on the basis of the Basic Law.”
Jusos are calling for ban proceedings
According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the AfD is not an object of observation in Hamburg. For the Hamburg Jusos, however, it is clear: the AfD should be banned. Kemir Čolić, co-chair of the Jusos, told the Hamburg Journal: “We cannot wait until the AfD wins the first elections.” He called for the AfD to be monitored nationwide and in all state associations and for a ban to be started.
Murat Kaplan from the Turkish community reacted with shock to the reports from the meeting in Potsdam and made it clear: “No one will leave the country. We are Germans, we are Hamburgers, we are at home here, I was born here. Many were born here, in the third or fourth generation now. But these ideas that are out there: everyone has to do something about it.”
Further information
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck gave an emotional speech at the Green Party’s New Year’s reception in Hamburg City Hall. more
For the author Florian Schroeder, one thing is certain: there is only an “illusory distance” between the AfD and the Identitarian Movement. (01/12/2024) more
Many people in Lower Saxony also see a danger from the right. Calls for an AfD ban are becoming louder and louder. (01/12/2024) more
The Lower Saxony Greens are calling for consequences within the state AfD. “Correctiv” uncovered the meeting. (01/12/2024) more
The SPD and the Left in the state parliament see reason to examine a ban. The AfD group disagrees. (01/11/2024) more
This topic in the program:
Hamburg Journal | 01/12/2024 | 19:30 o’clock
Keywords for this article
AfD
2024-01-13 08:54:25
#AfD #meeting #rightwing #extremists #people #demonstrate #Hamburg
