GERMAN President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called today for a broad “alliance against extremism” in the wake of widespread protests against the far right.

More than two weeks of protests against the Alternative for Germany party and others on the far right were triggered by a report of an extremist meeting having discussed the idea of deporting millions of people with immigrant roots.

Some 576,000 people took part in demonstrations between Friday and Sunday.

Mr Steinmeier, whose role is largely ceremonial, called the protests “a strong signal for our democracy” and said that “we now need a broad alliance across the population, across companies, culture and society — an alliance against extremism and for our democracy.”

He said that more than a quarter of the work in Germany is done by people whom the far-right extremists would like to throw out and that the country would also be “in a fix” if it could attract workers from abroad.

The German Trade Union Federation issued a statement stressing that all residents “must feel safe in our country.”

It said that Germany must remain attractive as a location “also to invite foreign skilled workers to find a home here.”