Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for his antagonism towards Islam, is to speak at an event in Berlin Saturday organised by a new right-wing party.
Die Freiheit (Freedom) party was founded in September by Rene Stadkewitz, another Islam-critic and a former member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).
In Berlin early Saturday, police erected barricades aroundthe Hotel Berlin where the event is due to take place, with left-wing groups – under the banner of “Send Geert Wilders Home” – having announced a counter demonstration.
The event comes as fears grow in German mainstream political parties of the emergence of a new anti-immigration, anti-Islam right wing movement.