In Saxony-Anhalt, fewer people have recently taken part in demos related to inflation, the Ukraine war and the corona pandemic. How could the protest events develop in the future?
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – Saxony-Anhalt’s Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU) warns that, despite the current decline in participation in demonstrations, such protests could also be used for anti-constitutional activities in the future. “We see at the moment that the delegitimizer scene is looking for a new mobilization topic,” said the CDU politician to the German Press Agency.
Last week, on Monday (February 20), around 2,350 people in Saxony-Anhalt took part in gatherings related to inflation, the Ukraine war and the corona pandemic. There have been 29 congregations nationwide. At the beginning of 2022, more than 18,000 people walked the streets, in autumn 2022 there were more than 14,000. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the 3000 mark has not yet been exceeded this year.
“We had a completely heterogeneous and regionally different composition at the demonstrations,” said Zieschang. “There were many who took to the streets in autumn and winter 2021/22 simply because of their criticism of the corona containment measures. Against this background, I am not surprised that the number of participants fell again when the measures were withdrawn.”
In the course of the protests against the measures to contain the corona pandemic, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had recently recorded numerous anti-constitutional efforts. According to the authority, the protagonists cannot be assigned to the classic areas of right-wing or left-wing extremism or Islamism. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has therefore set up the “Delegitimization of the State Relevant for the Protection of the Constitution” department.
In this scene there is a strong affinity for conspiracy ideologies. “All in all, such behavior aims to permanently shake trust in state institutions and their representatives,” says the report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In terms of content, actors in this scene tried to spread misinformation, especially via social media.
