Germans protest at conservative cooperation with far right on migration

Tens of thousands of people came out to protest against a conservative push for tougher migration laws backed by a far-right party in Germany.

Angry protesters came out in droves in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Leipzig on Sunday to oppose Friedrich Merz and the move by his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to pass a resolution in parliament with the support of the far-right nationalist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party.

Many critics say that it broke Germany’s anti-far-right ‘firewall’, an unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule with the support of far-right parties.

The CDU and the AfD successfully passed a non-binding resolution on Wednesday in an attempt to block undocumented foreigners at the border, including asylum seekers. However, on Friday, they failed to pass a contentious bill to further restrict immigration.

Merz, whose CDU is running ahead of the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the polling for the upcoming February 23 federal election, is facing unwanted attention over his attitude towards the far right and the AfD.

Hundreds of protesters temporarily blocked offices of the CDU in different cities, with some 160,000 people pouring into the streets of central Berlin, a police spokesman told the AFP news agency. Organisers said that more than 200,000 people turned out.

In separate protests on Saturday, more than 220,000 people protested across the country, according to figures compiled by public broadcaster ARD.

“[We want to] make as much noise as possible to call for the self-described ‘democratic’ parties to protect this democracy,” Anna Schwarz, who attended Sunday’s rally in Berlin, told AFP.

The 34-year-old said she was joining a political rally for the first time as “we can no longer avert our gaze, it’s too serious”.

Breaking the ‘firewall’

Merz took on the bill following a deadly knife attack last month by a rejected asylum seeker.

The CDU leader has been accused by protesters and politicians on the left of breaking a taboo and endangering mainstream parties’ “firewall” against AfD. He insists his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with the party.