Tomorrow, the 6th December, a national demonstration will take place against the seasonal meeting of all the German regional interior ministers in Cologne. Several groups from Beyond Europe’s …ums Ganze Alliance (Germany/Austria) will be involved.

These meetings make decisions and help co-ordinate German domestic policies. Traditionally, the ministers agree on harsher laws and repression against extra-parliamentary political opposition or minorities, labelled as “criminals” and face counter-demonstrations by left-wing /autonomous groups which see between a few hundred – a few thousand participants.

This year’s conference takes place within an explosive geopolitical period. The religious-fundamentalist “Islamic State” is at war (amongst others against progressive Kurdish self-organised projects) in order to become the hegemonic power in Syria and Iraq by using the most brutal and disgusting methods, leading to thousands of people escaping from those regions. Simultaneously, Germany plays a leading role in sealing itself and Europe off against migrants and refugees. In this context, a wide coalition of left, anti-racist and Kurdish organizations have come together and agreed on two main topics for the counter-mobilisation to the conference : “No Borders” and “Lift the ban aginst the PKK”.