The floodlights of Cologne cathedral will be switched off as a counter-protest against a planned anti-immigrant march, due to take place in the city on Monday night.
Thousands of marchers, coordinated by a new far-Right protest movement, have demonstrated in Dresden in recent weeks against what they say is the “Islamisation” of the country by Muslim immigrants.
The announcement came as Angela Merkel's Bavarian coalition partners urged a radical overhaul of Germany’s asylum system, including the swift deportation of those turned down for refugee status.
Bavaria’s ruling Christian Social Union, which is also a member of Mrs Merkel’s federal coalition, has proposed a new fast-track asylum process, based on the system used in Switzerland, in which “simple” cases would be decided in just six weeks. A senior CSU figure, Joachim Hermann, the Bavarian interior minister, has called for those whose applications are rejected to be deported. » | Justin HUggler, Berlin | Friday, January 02, 2015
