A demonstration to defend democracy. Nearly 6,000 people demonstrated on Saturday September 5 in Magdeburg, according to the police. He opposes the German far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), given the favorite in the polls for the regional elections which will take place on Sunday in this region of Saxony-Anhalt.
Organized by a collective of associations called “Saxony-Anhalt. Open to the world”, this event brought together people of all ages.
Speeches and concerts were planned until the evening in front of the cathedral of this former GDR city.
Some waved rainbow flags or held signs proclaiming “more love, less hatred”, “a better life without Nazis”, or even that “the potato is also of foreign origin”.
Protesters take part in a demonstration organized as part of a democracy festival, the day before the Saxony-Anhalt state elections in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. © Christian Mang, Reuters
Unprecedented situation since 1945
Among them, Jeanette Becker, a teacher in Stassfurt, told AFP “that she had tried again through messages on social networks to persuade acquaintances to vote for democracy tomorrow”.
Siegfried Hans Lohse, a 20-year-old student, admitted to having “a lot of people around him who express sympathy for the extreme right.”
Demonstrators take part in a demonstration as part of a democracy festival, the day before the Saxony-Anhalt state elections, in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. © Annegret Hilse, Reuters
Favorite in the polls, the Alternative for Germany, an anti-migrant, Russophile party favorable to Donald Trump, should win the elections in this regional state of 2.1 million inhabitants.
The AfD aims to take the lead in this Land, which would be an unprecedented breakthrough in Germany since 1945, but it is not guaranteed to obtain the absolute majority which would give it power. So far, all parties have ruled out governing with the far right, with the exception of the pro-Russian left party BSW, whose members are divided on the issue.
With AFP
