{"id":26997,"date":"2025-02-03T07:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T07:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=26997"},"modified":"2025-02-03T07:27:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T07:27:40","slug":"thousands-of-people-protest-in-germany-against-plans-to-limit-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2025\/02\/thousands-of-people-protest-in-germany-against-plans-to-limit-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of people protest in Germany against plans to limit immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of people protested in Berlin on Sunday against plans to limit immigration proposed by opposition conservatives and supported by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friedrich Merz, the conservatives’ leader who is tipped to become Germany’s next chancellor after a national election set for\u00a0Feb. 23, sponsored a draft bill with AfD support, breaking a taboo against cooperating with the far-right party.<\/p>\n

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Around 160,000 gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, next to the Bundestag lower house, according to the Berlin police. The protesters held banners reading “We are the firewall, no cooperation with the AfD” and “Merz, go home, shame on you!”, reported Reuters.<\/p>\n

Merz, the CDU\/CSU’s candidate for chancellor, on Friday\u00a0tried\u00a0to push the immigration bill in the lower house but failed to secure a majority as some of the deputies from his own party refused to support it.<\/p>\n

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