Monday 27, February
On Monday, there were 441 new Covid-19 infections reported in Berlin. The seven-day incidence currently stands at 71.2 cases per 100,000 people.
Thousands gather in Berlin to demonstrate against arms deliveries to Ukraine
According to organisers, Saturday afternoon saw 50,000 people come out to protest continued arms deliveries to Ukraine, but police put the number closer to 13,000. Either way, despite poor weather conditions, more people than expected came the demonstration, called “Uprising for Freedom” (timed to mark the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion).
The protest was in part organised by prominent Die Linke politician Sahra Wahenknecht and women’s rights activist Alice Schwarzer. To open the event, Wagenknecht read out a “Manifesto for Peace”, in which she called for an end to the “terrible suffering and dying in Ukraine”. She insisted it was time to negotiate with Russia, rather than entering “an endless war of attrition with ever new weapons.”
The event was met by a number of smaller counter-protests and proved very controversial, even among Germany’s left-wing. Many Die Linke politicians criticised the event, which had a significant AfD presence. Asked about the protest, Berlin’s Culture Senator Klaus Lederer (Die Linke) expressed his distance by stating there was a simple way to end the war: for Russia to withdraw its forces and restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity.