Protest against referendum in Switzerland
Photo: AP
Germany: Rightist party campaigns against mosques
Anti-Islamic party in North Rhine-Westphalia says mosques are symbol of 'Muslim occupation of land'
A rightist group from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has become the first official European party to promote a ban on the construction of mosques.
The group, Pro-North Rhine-Westphalia, is promoting the ban as part of its campaign against "Muslim occupation of land" ahead of the state elections in May 2010.
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"We will organize an elections campaign that clearly criticizes Islam," says Markus Wiener, secretary-general of Pro-North Rhine-Westphalia.
"We will adopt slogans used by Switzerland. We see the construction of mosques as a violent symbol of Muslim occupation of our land," he told the Die Welt daily.
Wiener stressed that the campaign was not aimed "directly against Islam", but dealt with the issue of "non-European immigrants, most of whom come from Muslim culture".
Wiener plans to hold an anti-minaret conference this spring, to which he wants to invite other rightist groups in order to debate the question of whether a referendum similar to the one held in Switzerland should also be held in Germany.
He plans to make use of the Lisbon Treaty approved by European states last month, which says the European Commission must debate bills supported by a million or more citizens.
Wiener's party won just 0.4% of the vote during the previous elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, however in the city of Cologne, which houses the largest Muslim population in the state, the group received 5.4% of votes.
In Switzerland, the minaret ban was put forth by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, the largest party in parliament. Its speakers said they saw the minarets as "a claim for a political and religious regime".
The referendum was condemned by all of the other government ministers, even after the public showed support for the ban.
