After ten years, the Islamophobic “Pegida” movement wants to hold its last demonstration in Dresden on Sunday. Several thousand participants are expected. Protests have been registered against the event, and thousands of people are also expected to attend.
City of Dresden: Significant traffic restrictions
As the city of Dresden announced in advance, there may be traffic disruptions in the old town and parts of the inner new town between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. due to the demonstrations and the home game of third division football team Dynamo Dresden. “Road users should avoid the city center as much as possible and plan longer travel times when using public transport,” it said in a statement.
The 250th Pegida meeting is the last
“Pegida” is classified as right-wing extremist by the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Co-founder Lutz Bachmann announced on social media a week ago that the 250th and last demonstration of the ten-year-old movement would be held on October 20th. The reasons for the end included logistical and financial problems.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies Pegida as extremist
Pegida was founded in October 2014 and stands for patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West. In 2015 and 2016, the group brought thousands of people onto the streets in Dresden, where it was founded. Elsewhere the response was much lower. In 2021, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified Pegida as an extremist movement. Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann – who had several previous convictions – was already described as a right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
After 2016, the movement’s popularity declined more and more; most recently, Pegida had largely disappeared from the scene.
Political scientist: Pegida replaced by AfD, Free Saxony and Identitarians
The Dresden political scientist Hans Vorländer sees the end of the street protests announced by the Pegida movement as an overdue decision.
“The concerns that Pegida originally addressed or presented in a radicalized form over time have been taken up and in some cases reinforced by other political forces such as the AfD, the right-wing extremist Free Saxony or the Identitarian Movement,” said the professor to the German press. Agency.
Nobody needs Pegida. And if they break up now themselves, then no sane person will shed a tear.
Frank Richter
Former head of the state center for political education
Frank Richter: The last demo was no reason for joy, but rather for continued concern
The theologian and former director of the State Center for Civic Education, Frank Richter, sees the long-standing “Pegida” movement as a defeat for democracy.
