Germany news: Thousands protest against AfD in Düsseldorf

Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on the weekend of Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13:

With the slogan "Not a Step Back! No to the AfD and Right-Wing Hate Speech!" around 20,000 people marched through downtown Düsseldorf , according to reports from the police and organizers.

Several political initiatives called for the protest rally to send a united message of support for an open, democratic society.

Among the participants, who marched peacefully without any counter-demonstrations, according to police, were the "Grandmas Against the Right."

On their poster, which was secured with a small piece of fabric and pins, they proclaimed: "The right is only for knitting." Numerous families with children also joined the protest march in beautiful weather.

The demonstration was prompted by the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party received nearly 44% of the vote, the most by far, but fell short of an absolute majority.

Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported that security officials have tied the recent attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport to a Russian national working directly with Moscow's GRU military intelligence agency.

Classified security assessments cited by the paper say the man, who entered Germany from Turkey and exited to Russia via Serbia, was responsible for operational logistics.

German authorities reportedly knew of the man's ties to the GRU when he entered the country but failed to put him under surveillance.

German intelligence sources said that the explosives were likely smuggled into Germany via truck from Bulgaria and Serbia.

Berlin said forensic evidence found at Leipzig/Halle airport, including drone configuration, explosives and trigger mechanisms, pointed to a Russian plot.

Authorities were later able to match DNA traces on the drone to those found after an arson attack at a Leipzig logistics facility on July 20, 2024.

The airport incident occurred on the evening of August 4 and involved an explosives-laden drone that was discovered near a Ukrainian transport jet.

Leipzig/Halle airport is a hub for military aid destined for Ukraine.

Authorities were able to disarm the drone for which the German government blamed Russia, on the basis of the report, in early September.

After an overnight break, we are back on the news of the day from Germany, where we will start with intelligence reports that provide evidence that Russia was behind a failed August 4 drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport.

After that we will look at Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming that the failed policies of Western politicians are the reason for the rise of the far-right AfD in Germany.

And speaking of the AfD, we will then look at panic in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU over the prospects of the party, which is currently polling at 7% ahead of state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, failing to clear the 5% hurdle to enter the state's parliament when voters take to the polls on September 20.

We will back with more Germany news in this blog on Saturday. Bis dann!

Eva Umlauf, a Holocaust survivor and the president of the International Auschwitz Committee, has written an open letter calling for a move to ban the AfD in Germany.

She addressed the letter to Henrdik Wüst, a prominent CDU politician and the state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia , most likely because he has in recent days called for the establishment of some kind of working group to evaluate the case for a ban motion.

"Let deeds follow your words," Umlauf wrote in the letter to Wüst, published in full by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper . "Set an AfD ban case in motion. Now, before it is too late."

She recounted her own time in Auschwitz, having been brought there in her mother's arms aged two.

"At some point, and it is not so far away now, the last of us survivors will be gone," Umlauf wrote. "Therefore we are passing on the burden that we have carried for a lifetime: to this country, to this society and in particular to you as a politician."

She recalled that the first state government led by Hitler's NSDAP was Anhalt in 1932.

"Eight months later, Hitler became chancellor," she said. "It was possible, because others believed that they could contain him. And because many looked the other way. Because they thought it would pass. The Holocaust did not start with gas chambers, it began with apathy."

She issued three requests to Wüst in the letter. First, to ensure that "steps towards an AfD ban process are taken rapidly." Second, to speak to Holocaust survivors and people in Saxony-Anhalt "who are afraid right now."

And finally, to support a potential bid for an investigation into a ban from his position in the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament. Such a motion would need to clear that chamber with majority support.

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This public transport update is accompanied by a magnitude 3.7 myopia warning from our Bonn newsroom.

The company that runs Bonn's public transport, Stadtwerke Bonn, has said that two of its 60 defective city trams or streetcars are back in service.

It said they would help out with the annual fair in the Pützchen district over the weekend, which brings additional visitors to the eastern part of the city.

The need to take some 60 vehicles out of service for repairs was announced a full seven weeks ago on July 21. It's not clear how far the other 58 are from resuming service.

Replacement buses have been trying to pick up the slack, and some subway stations have also been shut for repairs.

This is exacerbated by ongoing road disruptions in the former capital due to the long-term closure of the main highway bridge over the Rhine River.

The chairman of the oversight committee that monitors Stadtwerke Bonn, David Lutz, recently conceded: "Our patience really is somewhat at an end and used up."

Lutz called on the company to issue a fixed timetable for its plan to reestablish the tram services. A legal firm has also been asked to evaluate any potential shortcomings.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party says it is seeking to prosecute Chancellor Friedrich Merz for comments he made during Wednesday's general debate in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament.

Merz had said that the AfD's contentious "remigration" policy amounted to "nothing other than an ethnic cleansing by skin color and heritage." The comment prompted jeers from AfD members in parliament, but Merz repeated a paraphrased version of the allegation over the commotion.

It's extremely rare for parties to seek to prosecute politicians for comments they make in parliament, which are subject to far-reaching parliamentary privilege and in most cases are exempt from prosecution under Article 46 of Germany's constitution.