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Neo-Nazis Plan to ‘Storm’ German Parliament on May 9 - Interior Ministry

© Sputnik / Igor Zarembo / Go to the mediabankReichstag building in Berlin
Reichstag building in Berlin - Sputnik International
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German far-right activists have called on their supporters to mobilize outside the parliament in Berlin on May 9, the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat, with some protesters planning to "Storm the Reichstag," German authorities have said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — About 1,000 demonstrators from across the far-right spectrum, as well as troublemakers, are expected to attend the protest against the country's alleged "Islamization" and "Americanization," the German Interior Ministry said in response to a parliamentary question, as cited by the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

The demonstration is being organized by several movements through social networks. They have a range of stated goals – from confronting the government and urging Chancellor Angela Merkel to resign, to actually storming the parliament.

The German news outlet cited the ministry as saying it did not expect the demonstration to get out of hand, although it added that the call for a "Sturm auf den Reichstag" could amount to a criminal offense.

© AFP 2023 / ODD ANDERSENAnti-Islam protesters hold German flags during a BERGIDA rally, a local copycat of Dresden's right-wing populist movement PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident), at Alexander Platz in Berlin, eastern Germany
Anti-Islam protesters hold German flags during a BERGIDA rally, a local copycat of Dresden's right-wing populist movement PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident), at Alexander Platz in Berlin, eastern Germany - Sputnik International
Anti-Islam protesters hold German flags during a BERGIDA rally, a local copycat of Dresden's right-wing populist movement PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident), at Alexander Platz in Berlin, eastern Germany

The rally will be attended by members of the "Reich citizens" group, described by Tagesspiegel as a sect-like grouping that claims the German Reich still exists, and even issues passports on its behalf.

On May 9, Russia will mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany and the end of the WWII in Europe. Soviet troops overran the Reichstag in the final days of the Battle of Berlin, one of the bloodiest in World War II. The photo of a Soviet soldier raising a flag over the building has become one of the war's most iconic images.

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