Alarm in Germany as ‘corona demos’ take off

MUNICH: Angered by a slew of lockdown measures or a purported vaccine plan by Bill Gates, thousands took to the streets on Saturday in Germany in a growing wave of demonstrations that has alarmed even Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Initially starting as a handful of protesters decrying tough restrictions on public life to halt transmission of the coronavirus, the protests have swelled in recent weeks to gatherings of thousands in major German cities.

Huge numbers turned up again across Germany on Saturday, with more than 5,000 gathering in Stuttgart, at least 1,500 in Frankfurt and around 1,000 in Munich.

The growing demonstrations have sparked comparison to the anti-Muslim Pegida marches at the height of Europe´s refugee crisis in 2015, raising questions over whether the strong support that Merkel is currently enjoying due to her handling of the virus crisis could evaporate. Just as it won popularity by fanning anti-migrant sentiment five years ago, the far-right AfD party is now openly encouraging protesters and repositioning itself as an anti-lockdown party.

A recent poll commissioned by the Spiegel news magazine found that almost one in four Germans surveyed voiced “understanding” for the demonstrations.

The development has shocked the political establishment, with Merkel reportedly telling the top brass of her centre-right CDU party of the “worrying” trend that may bear some hallmarks of Russia´s disinformation campaigns.

Germany in March took unprecedented measures to shut down public life.

While a huge majority of Germans back the action, giving Merkel´s government a big boost in approval ratings, dissent is fomenting, particularly online where YouTube videos championing conspiracy theories or quack medical advice are attracting tens of thousands of views.

Seeking to counter absurd claims, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that although he wasn´t a medical practitioner, he could safely suggest that the “uncomfortable and cumbersome face mask is more to be recommended than a tin-foil hat”.

But protesters bristled at being dismissed as loonies.

Markus Windebrandt, 43, who was protesting in Munich, said the “measures of compulsory mask wearing and social distancing are simply no longer necessary.

“COVID-19 is a serious disease that must be taken seriously but the consequences of the disease must be compared to the negative consequences that these measures may have. There is no medical evidence that wearing the mask works. “

In Dortmund, another protester who would only be identified as Sabine, 50, said she turned up because she was “worried about public freedoms — under the cover of fighting the pandemic... the exceptional laws go against our basic constitution”.

“We want a return to normality and to not have any impediment on our public freedom. If someone is sick, then he or she should be just put in quarantine.”

After a public outcry over unruly protests last weekend, the AfD placed itself squarely on the side of the demonstrators.

Party co-chief Alexander Gauland said it was “completely correct that people are exercising their fundamental rights and demonstrating against corona measures.”

Any resulting split in society over the demonstrations should not be blamed on the protesters, but on “the sweeping vilification of participants as right-wing extremists, nutcases or conspiracy theorists”, he charged.