In Germany: Merkel condemns “disgusting” violence against refugees

Condemning the violence, Merkel said it was “repulsive, the way in which right-wing extremists and Neo Nazis were trying to spread their hollow messages”.

The sports hall in Nauen, about 20 kilometres northwest of Berlin, was due to house 130 asylum-seekers from September, but it was destroyed in the fire.

Following violent demonstrations outside a shelter in the eastern town of Heidenau over the weekend, many here are at pains to emphasise that a small minority are responsible.

The German government said last week that it expects 800,000 refugees to arrive in Germany this year.

Dietmar Woidke, state premier for Brandenburg where Nauen is located, on Tuesday promised a zero tolerance approach to “any form of xenophobia”.

Merkel, who had been criticized by commentators in Germany for failing to speak out more swiftly against the attacks, which began Friday night, said the images shown on television were “shocking”.

“We have to accept this challenge and master it together”, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters last week in Berlin.

“The Chancellor will hold a dialogue with refugees, volunteers and security staff in Heidenau”, her office added.

But Hollande and Merkel reiterated their calls on Monday for Brussels to draw up a list of safe countries of origin.

Marxloh, considered one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in all of Germany, has a very high crime rate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she shares the view of the worldwide Monetary Fund, that there is no indication that stock market turmoils will result in long-lasting crises.

Other entrepreneurs see refugees as an opportunity for Germany, where the working-age population is forecast to shrink by around 6 million people by 2030 and 15 million by 2060. The pair called for a unified EU-wide response including fair distribution of refugees across Europe.

According to the Bertelsmann Stiftung, a foundation in Germany, the country needs about a half-million immigrants each year to compensate for the decline of births and to maintain social care. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who had travelled to the Macedonia-Greece border, called for an urgent new strategy to deal with the crisis.

“This is an emergency situation for Europe that requires all EU member states to step in to support the national authorities who are taking on a massive number of migrants at its borders”, Frontex’s executive director, Fabrice Leggeri, said in a statement last week. “She will hope to find out why so many thousands of people are coming from these countries”, said her spokesman, Steffen Seibert.

“In Germany there is a touching, spontaneous and broad willingness to help refugees”, he said.

While most Germans have welcomed the refugees, a vocal minority is opposed to them, particularly in eastern Germany, which still lags behind the west in terms of jobs and opportunities 25 years after reunification.