Demonstration in Berlin
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More than 10,000 people are calling for an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine
A demonstration in Berlin is taking place on Saturday against further arms deliveries to Ukraine, initiated by the left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht, among others. The police are on site with 1,400 forces.
- Rally at the Brandenburg Gate has begun
- Berlin police are increasing their presence and imposing conditions
- People from the right and left spectrum are expected
- Restrictions on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn
The large-scale rally “Rebellion for Peace” by left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and women’s rights activist Alice Schwarzer has begun in Berlin. According to the police, more than 10,000 people gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon at the beginning of the rally, despite the cold and sleet. Due to a “strong influx” of people, a further increase in the number of protesters is to be expected.
Wagenknecht gave a speech at the beginning of the event, after which the “Manifesto for Peace” published by the initiators two weeks ago was read out.
Police with 1,400 forces on site
The action and a petition signed by hundreds of thousands of people from Wagenknecht and Schwarzer are highly controversial. The two women call on the federal government to focus on peace negotiations instead of arms deliveries. The leaders of the Left Party criticized the call for demonstrations, but leading AfD politicians signed the manifesto.
The police are deployed with 1,400 forces, as announced on Twitter. In the 800 police officers were deployed to commemorate the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Friday. About 10,000 people took part in the demonstration on Friday. Except for an egg thrown at the Russian embassy, according to the police, there were no incidents there.
Police have imposed conditions
In the meantime, restrictions have been imposed on the meeting on Saturday, as the Berlin police also announced on Twitter. Wearing military uniforms, insignia, St. George’s ribbons (Russian military insignia consisting of a pattern of three black and two orange stripes), showing the letters Z & V and other symbols glorifying war is prohibited.
The demonstrators on Saturday could come from very different political camps, from the far right to the far left. According to the police, the Internet was mobilized in many different directions. This also happened at demonstrations during the corona pandemic, where right-wing populists, left-wing groups, opponents of vaccination, so-called lateral thinkers from the middle-class and representatives of the alternative spectrum gathered.
An rbb reporter on site photographed a tank motif vehicle that compares Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) with Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitller.
Restrictions on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn
Because of the many people expected, the BVG and the Berlin S-Bahn do not stop at the Brandenburg Gate station. The subway line 5 and the S-Bahn lines S2, S25, S26 are affected. The S-Bahn recommends on Twitter to switch to the Potsdamer Platz, Friedrichstraße and Hauptbahnhof stations.
620,000 people signed the manifesto
Two weeks ago, Alice Schwarzer and Sahra Wagenknecht published a “Manifesto for Peace” in which they warned against an escalation of the Ukraine war and called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to “stop the escalation in arms deliveries”.
According to a count on the “change.org” website, around 620,000 people had signed their consent on Friday. “Negotiating means making compromises on both sides, with the aim of preventing hundreds of thousands more deaths and worse. We think that too, and that’s what half of the German population thinks,” the manifesto said.
Parts of the AfD also agreed. However, their leading representatives do not want to take part in the demonstration. Instead, the AfD itself called for peace rallies in various cities.
Criticism from the FDP, Greens and Left
Criticism of the event comes from the Greens, among others: Economics Minister Habeck said on Friday evening on ARD that everyone who is sane and sane wants peace. However, the left-wing politician Wagenknecht and her followers wanted to sell something as peace that an “imperialist dictator” was forcing on Europe. Wagenknecht and their supporters were “misleading the population”.
FDP boss Christian Lindner also heavily criticized the call by the initiators Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer. “Playing down Putin’s aggression, rejecting arms deliveries. No help – only demands for diplomatic solutions,” wrote the finance minister on Twitter on Saturday. The protest action must be “replied clearly: Whoever does not stand by Ukraine is on the wrong side of history”.
Meanwhile, the Berlin left is distancing itself from the pro-Russian views of party colleague Wagenknecht. Culture Senator Klaus Lederer told rbb on Friday afternoon at a demonstration in front of the Russian embassy that it was important to say that his state association was committed to Putin and Russia being able to end the war if they withdrew their armed forces from Ukraine and restored territorial integrity produce.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, February 25, 2023, 10 a.m