In this August. 23, 2015 photo police secure the street in front of a former DIY market that has been converted into an asylum seeker home as leftist demonstrators gather nearby in Heidenau, south of Dresden, eastern Germany. Some shouted “Heil Hitler”.
Advertisement
No one was injured by the hearth in Nauen, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of Berlin. “It’s repulsive how far-right extremists and neo-Nazis are trying to spread their hollow message of hatred around a refugee shelter, and it’s shameful how citizens, even families with children, are supporting this spectacle by marching along”.
His comments follow a warning from German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere that the Schengen Agreement could be “in danger” because migrants arriving in Greece and Italy are heading north to make asylum claims.
“Market movements, we know them – and we can’t adjust our positions just to market indexes”, Hollande told reporters in Berlin on Monday alongside Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
The number of attacks on temporary asylum shelters in Germany has risen sharply this year, with around 200 incidents reported so far.
Merkel is to travel to Heidenau, a small town near Dresden, alongside Saxon Premier Stanislaw Tillich, on Wednesday.
Left-wing activists staging counter-demonstrations also clashed with the right-wing protesters.
Germany is the European Union’s largest recipient of asylum applications and the country has seen a surge in economic and political refugee arrivals this year. Angela Merkel’s government is committed to treating all refugees humanely.
Ahead of the Berlin meeting, a French presidential source said that “the (immigration) situation is not resolving itself”, adding that the decisions made by the EU “are not sufficient, not quick enough and not up to the task”.
German authorities have been alarmed by a wave of attacks targeted at refugees, as the country braces to host a record 800,000 asylum seekers. According to The Guardian, Google deleted a map of refugee shelters that the project was maintaining, because it seemed to amount to a map of targets for violent right-wingers to attack.
“There will be zero tolerance for any form of xenophobia… such action is shameful and unworthy of Germany’, he continued”.
France and Germany are both urging Brussels to compile a list of countries whose nationals would not be considered asylum-seekers except in exceptional personal circumstances.
Beyond the migrant crisis, Merkel and Hollande will also meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the recent resurgence of violence in Ukraine.
Advertisement
Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande sought a joint position for tackling the crisis, saying the burden of aiding refugees needs to be shared fairly among the 28 EU countries.
