Europe is (finally) angry, whiners regret ‘end of tolerance’
Few people outside of Germany paid much attention when a little-known Berlin politician named Rene Stadtkewitz convened a news conference last week and announced the formation of a new “Freedom” party.
But in the German capital, the founding of a movement modeled on the anti-immigrant party of Dutch populist Geert Wilders was a small political earthquake, whose tremors resonated in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office across town.
“Right now we are focused on building up this new party in Berlin, but if we have success here, I certainly can’t rule out extending it nationwide,” Stadtkewitz, who was kicked out of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) for his views, told Reuters.
The 45-year-old from the east Berlin district of Pankow, who wants headscarves banned, mosques shuttered and state welfare payments to Muslims cut, is the newest face of a powerful anti-immigrant strain in European politics that is winning over voters and throwing mainstream politicians onto the defensive.