BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel condemns anti-immigration riots in eastern Germany as “repulsive,” her spokesman said, after police guarding a refugee shelter were attacked by protesters for three consecutive nights.
Though the riots in the town of Heidenau aren’t representative of Germany, Merkel’s government is concerned about increasing violence aimed against migrants, Seibert told reporters in Berlin on Monday.
“The way right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis are spreading these sick messages of hate around a refugee facility is repulsive,” he said. “It’s shameful the way that some citizens, even families with children, support this horror by collaborating.”
Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel rearranged a tour of German companies Monday to visit Heidenau, where an anti-immigrant rally against a refugee center was followed by demonstrators throwing firecrackers and bottles at police over the weekend. More than 30 police officers have been injured, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported Monday.
Merkel will discuss European Union refugee quotas with French President Francois Hollande during talks in Berlin later Monday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Prague on Sunday.
