BERLIN
German politicians have expressed concern about the rise of an extreme right wing group and its anti-Muslim protests in the country.
The Dresden-based right wing group, Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West or the PEGIDA, is known for its anti-Muslim and anti-refugee stance. It organized a protest last week in Germany's eastern city of Dresden that around 10,000 people attended.
At the same time, some 9,000 people also held counter-demonstrations in the country.
"We do not accept any agitation of Salafists against non-believers or people of different faith," the right wing group said via its Facebook page. It also said that it would not allow any activity of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or the PKK, or al-Qaeda terrorist groups in Europe.
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement published in the German magazine "Spiegel" that there was a limit to everything.
Maas called on all parties to keep a clear distance from the protests of the right wing groups.
"When xenophobic attitudes are adopted against people who have lost everything and have come to Germany by requesting for help, we cannot stay silent," the minister said.
The Interior Minister of North Rhine Westphalia State, Ralf Jaeger, said the extremist group was fuelling anxiety and xenophobia through agitation.
Jaeger said that he was worried about the right wing populists and extremists who root aggressively against the people who have already lost everything.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union said the people could hold demonstration "for or against something."
"However, nobody should exploit the extreme political aims," CDU Spokesman Wolfgang Bosbach said.
According to a study by the German think tank Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 18.2 percent of Germans support prohibition of immigration of Muslims to Germany.
The research, conducted between June and September, gathered the views of 1,915 citizens aged between 16 and 95.
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