Mon Feb 03 00:43:36 IST 2025: ## Tens of Thousands Protest Merz’s Collaboration with Far-Right in Germany
**BERLIN** – Hundreds of thousands of Germans took to the streets across the country on Sunday in massive protests against CDU leader Friedrich Merz and his party’s cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The demonstrations, which drew an estimated 200,000 people in Berlin alone and hundreds of thousands more nationwide, followed the CDU’s successful passage of a non-binding resolution to restrict undocumented immigration with the AfD’s support.
Critics argue that this collaboration breaks a long-standing post-Nazi agreement among mainstream parties to maintain a “firewall” against far-right influence. The move has sparked outrage, with protesters accusing Merz of jeopardizing German democracy and normalizing the AfD’s presence in the political landscape. Protests also took place in Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, and Leipzig, with some demonstrators blocking CDU offices. In Cologne, hundreds of protesters took to the Rhine River in boats.
The controversy stems from a recent deadly knife attack allegedly committed by a rejected asylum seeker, which prompted the CDU to push for stricter immigration policies. While a subsequent bill to further restrict immigration failed to pass, the initial collaboration with the AfD has fueled widespread concern.
Merz, whose CDU currently leads in polls ahead of the February 23rd federal election, has defended his actions, claiming he hasn’t and won’t work with the AfD. However, his critics remain unconvinced, pointing to the precedent set by the joint resolution. The AfD, currently polling in second place, has significantly gained traction since its entry into the Bundestag in 2017. These protests echo similar large-scale demonstrations a year ago, expressing widespread anxiety over the rise of the far-right in Germany. The scale of the protests underscores the deep public concern over the erosion of Germany’s post-war democratic consensus.
First Piper 