While World Leaders Meet in Munich, Antiwar Demonstrators Gather Outside
Inside the meeting halls of the luxury Bayerische Hof hotel in Munich, world leaders on Saturday pledged to step up military support for Ukraine. But on the streets outside, thousands called for them to end it.
It was a reminder of the divisions that cleave Germany, where just over half of the population supports arming Ukraine.
Around 10,000 demonstrators gathered at the southern German city’s majestic Königsplatz — one of more than a dozen demonstrations across the city — with the crowd including a mix of far right and far left, peaceniks and pro-Russian citizens.
A few carried Russian flags, but most prominent on signs was the anti-NATO and anti-American sentiment that has long bubbled on Germany’s fringes and has become more prominent over the course of the war, fueled by Russian propaganda.
The demonstrations draw a radicalized fringe, with the antiwar protests taken up by many of the same organizers as anti-lockdown demonstrations during the pandemic.
But the decision to arm Ukraine still remains an uncomfortable one for many Germans.
“We ask ourselves whether NATO is really still good for Germany,” said Jürgen Todenhöfer, a former Christian Democrat parliamentarian known for his criticism of the United States. “We have to serve peace and not the Americans.”
🔗Source: WAPO
