Thousands of Berliners protest against military support for Ukraine

The protesters, who responded to a call by a left-wing group gathered in Berlin, held up signs reading “Negotiations! No weapons!”, “No to war” and “ Pacifism is not naive.” Some also carried anti-American banners.

One of their main demands is that Germany stop sending weapons to Ukraine, which is urging Germany and Western countries in general to step up arms supplies to fight Russia.

Posters visible in this photo include a call for 'peace with Russia', a call for Germany to withdraw from NATO and one reading 'yesterday Hiroshima, tomorrow Euroshima?'. Photo: PA/DW

The protest comes a week before the first state visit by a US president to the Western European country since former President Ronald Reagan visited in 1985.

Mr. Joe Biden is also expected to meet with Ukraine's allies to discuss military support for the country, at the US military base in Ramstein, western Germany.

Far-left leader Sahra Wagenknecht, who attended the Berlin rally, has long called for an end to arms supplies to Kiev and opposed US plans to deploy long-range missiles in Germany.

Germany is the second-largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine after the United States but plans to halve its budget for that aid next year.

Wagenknecht's anti-NATO and anti-aid stances have contributed to her party's strong performance in three recent eastern German state elections, including winning 12% of the vote in the state of Brandenburg.

Protesters hold banners accusing NATO of 'genocide' in eastern Ukraine and in Gaza. Photo: PA/DW

Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party also shook up German politics in September when it won the vote in the eastern state of Thuringia and came in a close second in the neighboring state of Saxony.

The AfD's platform is against asylum seekers, multiculturalism and Islam, but is also based on criticism of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's policy of unconditional support for Ukraine.

The leaders of the states of Saxony and Brandenburg, where the AfD is second, as well as the head of the conservatives in Thuringia, who have called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, are expected to formally put forward their views in an article due to be published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Friday.

They said diplomatic efforts by Germany and the European Union had so far been “too indecisive”, urging the government in Berlin to sit down with Russia at the negotiating table.

Peace (according to AFP, CNA)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/hang-nghin-nguoi-o-duc-bieu-tinh-phan-doi-vien-tro-quan-su-cho-ukraine-keu-goi-dam-phan-hoa-binh-post315180.html