In their “Manifesto for Peace”, left-wing politician Wagenknecht and women’s rights activist Schwarzer call on the federal government to stop arms deliveries for Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia, and call for a demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate. Several thousand people follow the call, including AfD supporters.
Several thousand people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for a “peace rally”. Left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and women’s rights activist Alice Schwarzer called for the demonstration. Shortly before the start of the rally, the police initially spoke of around 5,000 participants and continued strong influx, so far there had been no special incidents. The organizers said that it is estimated that at least 10,000 people were already there.
A dpa reporter reported a massive influx and large crowds on both sides of the Brandenburg Gate – despite the sleet and cold. Some participants had flags with doves of peace with them. As of 2 p.m., 10,000 participants were registered with the police. “But it cannot be ruled out that there will be more,” said a spokesman.
The police are on duty in the face of gatherings for the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine with 1,400 forces, as she wrote on Twitter. Several smaller counter-demonstrations with mostly double-digit numbers of participants were also registered in the vicinity of the Brandenburg Gate.
On the website for the “Uprising for Peace” rally, participants were called on to refrain from party and national flags – although numerous Russian flags could be seen on pictures. “Far-right flags, emblems and symbols have no place at our rally,” it said. Several state associations of the AfD wanted to travel from the east by bus to the rally in Berlin, as ntv learned from party circles. According to this, around 100 representatives of the right-wing party are to take part in the “peace rally”. However, the federal board should not be among those arriving.
With the rally, Wagenknecht and Schwarzer want to underpin their demands for dealing with the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Two weeks ago they published a “Manifesto for Peace” in which they called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to “stop the escalation in arms deliveries”. The women’s rights activist and the left-wing politician call for a ceasefire and peace negotiations with Russia. Critics had accused Wagenknecht and Schwarzer of being naïve in their text.
Scholz and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck also made it clear that they did not share the conviction. One has to understand “that the Russian President currently only accepts one form of negotiations, namely that someone capitulates unconditionally and he implements all his goals,” said Scholz. More than 640,000 people declared their approval of the “Manifesto” on the Internet.
