PEGIDA Plans Anti-Islam Demos in 14 Countries
The demonstrations are being organized by the anti-foreigner German group PEGIDA, an acronym for "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident."
Tatjana Festerling of PEGIDA made the announcement on Saturday following a meeting with like-minded groups in Roztoky, near Prague.
"The fight against the Islamization of Europe is our common objective," Festerling said in a statement after the meeting.
The Roztoky meeting was organized by the Czech group "Bloc Against Islam" whose leader, Martin Konvicka, called Europe's policy on migrants as "stupid and suicidal".
PEGIDA started life in October 2014 as a xenophobic Facebook group, initially drawing just a few hundred protesters to demonstrations in the eastern city of Dresden before gaining strength, peaking with turnouts of 25,000 people.
Interest subsequently began to wane following overtly racist comments by founder Lutz Bachmann and the surfacing of "selfies" in which he sported a Hitler-style moustache and hairstyle.
Source: World Bulletin
