By : Dr. Raga’a Shawkat
Members of the Russian-speaking community in northern Germany organized pro-Russia demonstrations last weekend in a march towards the city’s largest cemetery to lay flowers in honor of fallen Soviet soldiers in World War II.
The march was stopped by a major banner that read (Truth and Diversity, not Propaganda). A corresponding demonstration was organized under the slogan (Support for Ukraine).
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrei Melnik, strongly opposed the green light given by the German authorities to organize the demonstrations, describing it as a “great shame”.
Some see that the recent demonstrations came as a reaction to the huge demonstrations that took place in German cities, which condemned the Russian war on Ukraine, and it was called (against the fear of Russia (Rosophobia)) or against discrimination against Russian-speaking people.
In the meantime, German Interior Minister Nancy Weisser said that the German authorities “are closely monitoring the extent to which Russian and Ukrainian citizens are exposed to danger in Germany,”.
It should be noted that 1.2 million people from Russia reside in Germany, 325,000 people are from Ukraine, and no less than 316,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine in February 2022.
