The Chancellor has sharply criticized the expulsion plans of right-wing extremists. Everyone is called upon to take a stand. In his video podcast he welcomed the demonstrations in many cities.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for people to defend democracy in light of plans by right-wing extremists and AfD politicians to mass-expel millions of people from Germany. “I’ll say it very clearly and harshly: right-wing extremists are attacking our democracy. They want to destroy our cohesion,” said Scholz in a video podcast. That’s why “everyone is now called upon to take a clear and unequivocal position: for cohesion, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany.”
Scholz said that “millions of people” would be affected by the expulsion plans. “That thought sends shivers down your spine.” The fact that people are now asking themselves whether they still have a future in Germany is “terrible”. “That’s why I would like to say to all of you: You belong to us! Our country needs you!” emphasized the Chancellor. That is also the message of the new citizenship law that was passed in the Bundestag today.
He expressly welcomed the demonstrations that have taken place in various cities since the reports were made. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to show their support for democracy and against right-wing extremism. Scholz himself took part in a rally in Potsdam. “Because what we are currently experiencing here in our country really concerns us all – each and every one of us.” If something should “never have a place again” in Germany, it is “the ethnic racial ideology of the National Socialists.”
Integration officer make a joint statement
The integration commissioners of the federal states also compared the expulsion plans with the ideology of National Socialism in a joint statement. “The inhumane, right-wing extremist plans to deport millions of people with an immigrant background and their supporters, with their inhumane ideology, are in direct line with National Socialism,” they wrote.
Such plans “are directed against the foundations of our state and our conviction as democrats to respect but also protect the dignity of the individual and peaceful coexistence in diversity,” the text warned. “As integration commissioners for the states and the federal government, we stand protectively on the side of all people with an immigration history,” emphasize the signatories, including the federal government’s integration commissioner Reem Alabali-Radovan.
Football takes a stand
German football is also taking a stand against the right. “Fantasies about remigration in the sense of a forced expulsion of German citizens alarm us,” the DFB quoted its vice-president Celia Sasic in an association statement. “These days, tens of thousands of people are gathering all over the country who loudly oppose current developments. We as the DFB show solidarity with this attitude. Because it is our attitude.”
A number of Bundesliga coaches and professionals made similar statements. SC Freiburg coach Christian Streich called on people to take part in the demonstrations. His colleague from Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso, said: “Not just Bayer 04, but the whole society is very open and international. We have to stand up for these values, defend them resolutely and be really steadfast in these positions.”
Numerous demos planned throughout Germany
Across Germany, a total of around 90 rallies against right-wing extremism have been registered for the weekend in a large number of large and small cities, according to a list on the portal “Together Against the Right”.
Today there are events in Hamburg and Münster, for example. Rallies are scheduled for Saturday in Nuremberg, Dortmund, Hanover, Erfurt, Magdeburg and Frankfurt am Main, among others. On Sunday there will be demonstrations in Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Dresden, Leipzig and Bonn. 200 organizations are jointly calling for the major rally in Munich and, according to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, they are expecting more than 30,000 participants. Events are planned in Stuttgart for both Saturday and Sunday.