News / Germany

German protesters rally against Americanization of Europe

Sunday, 15 March 2015 1:17 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 15 March 2015 1:16 AM ]

German protesters during a rally protesting Americanization of Europe in the city of Erfurt on January 24, 2015

German protesters have taken to the streets of the city of Hanover to decry what they describe as the Americanization of Europe.

Hundreds of participants in the Saturday rally complained that the new world order is confining their freedom. More than 500 people had earlier announced on a social networking site that they would take part in the demonstration with “peace, solidarity, and understanding” described as its main themes.

During the rally, protesters carried half German, half Russian flags and held signs that read “Stop terror,” “Stop the new world order,” and “We want to live as fee people in a free Germany.”

The protesters further condemned what they referred to as Germany's meddling in the Ukrainian domestic affairs through the NATO channel.

Speaking at the protest rally, prominent local journalist and activist Christoph Horstel accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of supporting “Nazis in Ukraine,” demanding that she should be “handcuffed” and brought to trial in a court of justice to respond to questions regarding her government’s role in fanning the tensions in eastern Ukraine.

"Come on, Miss Merkel… in handcuffs and then I want to see a proper process in court, where the truth will be said, that you support Nazis in Ukraine,” he said.

Horstel is a former broadcast journalist for German television channel ARD.

The development came as more than a thousand German anti-riot police clashed with protesters in the city of Wuppertal as another rally was held there by anti-Islam and anti-immigrant group PEGIDA.

The massive deployment of Police forces showed concerns over the escalation of the protest event since a counter demonstration was organized in another part of the city.

The anti-PEGIDA protesters also marched through the streets, decrying racism and religious bias.

PEGIDA, which stands for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West in German, campaigns against what it perceives as the growing influence of Islam in Europe and increasing immigration to the continent.