Tens of thousands of people went down to the streets of Berlin to protest against what they consider to be a violation of a taboo in German post-war politics.
The demonstrations intervened after certain parties voted alongside the far -right party, alternative for Germany (AFD), on a non -binding resolution on immigration last week.
The chief of the Christian Democratic Christian Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, who is planned to be the next German Chancellor, had tried to rely on the support of AFD twice last week, including for a project law aimed at limiting immigration.
This decision angered many, the organizers of the demonstration saying that people had proven to condemn what they consider to be a violation of the country’s agreement so as not to work with the far right at the national level.
The demonstrations took place three weeks before the national elections and followed similar demonstrations across Germany on Saturday.
Police estimate that around 160,000 people came to protest on Sunday. The rally started just outside the Bundestag, the German parliament building and headed for the CDU headquarters.
The 34 -year -old demonstrator Anna Schwarz told AFP that she joined a political rally for the first because “we can no longer avoid our gaze”.
“(We want) making as much noise as possible to call self-proclaimed” democrats “parties to protect this democracy,” she said.
The CDU leads in the polls before the election of Germany Snap this month. AFD is currently in second place, although Merz has excluded any type of coalition with them.
On Wednesday, a non -binding request on the modifications of the Immigration Act was adopted by the German Parliament.
Two days later, a bill to reduce immigration figures and family reunion rights was rejected by the German Parliament by 350 votes to 338. The bill was advanced by the CDU and supported by The extreme right.
The strategy was largely condemned, in particular by the predecessor of Merz as chief of the CDU and former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who accused her of having turned his back on a previous commitment not to work with AFD in The Bundestag.
Merz defended his actions as “necessary” and declared that he had not asked for the support of the party.
“A good decision is not just wrong because bad people are agreeing,” he said last week.
