Radical anti-refugee protesters jeer at Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has received an angry greeting in the eastern city of Dresden as radicals and supporters of the xenophobic movement, PEGIDA, jeer at her to leave office.
An angry crowd of far-right demonstrators gathered in Dresden on Monday to protest the presence of Merkel in the city to attend a series of reunification celebrations, with whistles and shouts of "Get out" heard from the demonstrators.
Merkel and German President Joachim Gauck arrived in Dresden earlier in the day for national celebrations to mark the anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany 26 years ago.
Supporters of PEGIDA also gave Gauck a hostile greeting upon his arrival.
The German chancellor has been facing mounting criticism over her open-door policy toward refugees flooding the country over the past year.
More than a million refugees crossed into Europe last year. Germany received the highest number of them, around 900,000.
Anti-refugee sentiments have affected the public support for Merkel’s CDU party which has experienced defeats in recent state elections across the country.
The harsh welcome for Merkel in Dresden was anticipated, as the city is the birthplace of PEGIDA, a xenophobic movement that follows an anti-Islamic and anti-refugee agenda. The group saw a peak in its public support in early 2015 when some 25,000 people took part in several of its rallies in Dresden. However, the support for PEGIDA subsided after Merkel urged Germans to turn their backs to the group and its hate rhetoric.
Dresden is the capital of Saxony, a German state which has seen the highest number of hate attacks against refugees over the past months.
Last week, police reported bomb attacks targeting a mosque and an international convention center in Dresden, saying they were allegedly carried out by people having xenophobic and nationalist motives.
Iran condemns ‘violent’ attack on Christmas market in Germany
Saudi man arrested after deadly car attack on German Christmas market
Suspected car attack on German Christmas market injures up to 80
VIDEO | Austrian Muslim NGO dedicates aid collecting event to Gaza
Israel launches three raids on Lebanon in fresh truce breach: Report
Dec. 26: ‘Axis of Resistance’ operations against Israeli occupation
Israeli forces raid Kamal Adwan Hospital after killing 53 in airstrikes
Pezeshkian to visit Russia next month to sign partnership pact
'Hypersonic' Yemeni missile hits Tel Aviv after Israeli airstrikes
VIDEO | Iran emerging as aviation service hub through innovative solutions
Iraq exhuming remains of 100 Kurdish women, children killed by Saddam
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
