A week before the elections and following remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance that called on German political parties to renounce their “firewall” policy of not collaborating with the far right, at least 30,000 people protested in Berlin.
Following US Vice President JD Vance’s call for Germany to lift a long-standing taboo against cooperation with the far right, tens of thousands of people participated in a demonstration against such collaboration in Berlin on Sunday, February 16. A week before a general election, police estimate that about 30,000 people participated in the protest, while organizers estimate that about 38,000 did.
Numerous people carried signs with slogans criticizing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is predicted to emerge as the second-largest party in the election scheduled for next Sunday. “We are the firewall” was the slogan of the demonstration, alluding to the long-standing custom of Germany’s mainstream parties to avoid collaborating with the far right.
Vance urged Germany to abandon its opposition to the far right taking power in a speech in Munich on Friday, stating that there was “no room for firewalls.” After the election, it is anticipated that the AfD will be the second-largest party, behind former chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU-CSU alliance.
