Mass protest in Berlin against far right
People light up their mobile phones during a protest against the migration plans of the CDU party leader and top candidate for Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), in Berlin, Germany on February 2, 2025. Photo REUTERS
Tens of thousands of demonstrators converged on Berlin on Sunday to protest against against Germany's conservatives' norm-shattering overtures toward the far right.
Police said at least some 20,000 people had gathered just after the protest's 3:45 pm (14:45 GMT) kick-off time outside the Bundestag, Germany's parliament building.
But with demonstrators carrying placards and banners denouncing the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party arriving "from every direction", a police spokeswoman said that tally "could rise considerably".
Organisers planned to march towards the headquarters of the CDU, whose seeking of the far-right AfD's support for an anti-immigration bill in parliament last week sparked the demonstration less than a month ahead of a snap federal election.
Since the end of World War II, German parties have had an unwritten agreement not to work with the far right at the national level.