BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of people protested against the far right in cities across Germany on Saturday, attending events with slogans such as “Never again is now,” “Against hate” and “Defend democracy.” The large crowds were the latest in a series of demonstrations that have gained momentum in recent days.

The demonstrations followed a report that right-wing extremists had recently met to discuss deporting millions of immigrants, including those with German citizenship. Some members of the right-wing extremist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) were also present at the meeting.

According to the police, 35,000 people took part in a protest rally in Frankfurt on Saturday afternoon. Demonstrations in Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Hanover, among others, also attracted large crowds.

A similar demonstration on Friday in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, attracted 50,000 people, according to police, and had to be ended early because the crowds raised security concerns.

Additional protests planned for Sunday in other major German cities, including Berlin, Munich and Cologne, are also expected to draw tens of thousands of people.

Although there have been other protests against the far right in Germany in recent years, the size and scale of the protests taking place this weekend – not just in major cities but also in dozens of smaller towns across the country – are remarkable.

The crowds on Saturday were a sign that the protests appear to be igniting popular resistance to the AfD in new ways. What began as relatively small gatherings have turned into protests that, in many cases, drew far more participants than organizers expected.

The protests were triggered by a report by the media portal Correctiv last week about an alleged right-wing extremist meeting in November, which was allegedly attended by representatives of the extremist Identitarian Movement and the AfD. A prominent member of the Identitarian Movement, Austrian citizen Martin Sellner, presented his “remigration” vision for deportations, the report said.

The AfD distanced itself from the extremist meeting on the grounds that it had no organizational or financial connection to the event, that it was not responsible for the discussions there and that the participants only did so for purely personal reasons. Nevertheless, one of the AfD parliamentary group leaders, Alice Weidel, separated from an advisor who was there and at the same time denounced the reporting itself.

The protests also stem from growing concerns over the past year about the AfD’s growing support among the German electorate.

The AfD was founded in 2013 as a eurosceptic party and entered the German Bundestag for the first time in 2017. With around 23%, it is in second place in surveys nationwide, well above the 10.3% it achieved in the last federal election in 2021.

Last summer, AfD candidates became the first right-wing extremist party to win the AfD’s first mayoral and district council elections since the Nazi era. And the party made significant gains in the state elections in Bavaria and Hesse.

The party leads in several states in eastern Germany, the region where its support is strongest – including three, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia, where elections are scheduled to take place in the fall.

As a result, Germany is grappling with the question of how best to respond to the party’s popularity.

Widespread anger over the Correctiv report has led to renewed calls for Germany to consider banning the AfD. On Saturday, the Brandenburg state group of the Greens in Germany voted at a party conference for a possible ban to prevent the rise of “a new fascist government in Germany.”

However, many AfD opponents have spoken out against the idea, arguing that the process is lengthy, success is highly uncertain and it could benefit the party if it can portray itself as a victim.

Elected representatives from across the political spectrum, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, expressed support for the protests.

“From Cologne to Dresden, from Tübingen to Kiel, hundreds of thousands will be taking to the streets in Germany in the coming days,” Scholz said in his weekly video statement, adding that the demonstrators’ use was an important symbol “for our democracy and against it.” is right-wing extremism.”

Friedrich Merz, head of the center-right Christian Democrats, said the protests showed that Germans were “against any form of hatred, against incitement and against forgetting history.”

“The silent majority raises its voice and shows that it wants to live in a cosmopolitan and free country,” he told the German press agency dpa.

The attention and support for the protests extends beyond the political realm. Prominent personalities from sports, entertainment and business have also commented on the matter.

Bayern Munich football coach Thomas Tuchel spoke out against right-wing extremism at a press conference on Saturday: “There is no doubt, we are 1000 percent against any kind of extremism,” he said, according to dpa. There can never be too many voices for such a message, he added.