After a demonstration against a planned asylum accommodation in Zittau in the southeast of Saxony, aggressive participants pushed into the city hall. During a city council meeting on Thursday evening, some very aggressive people came into the hall, said Zittau’s mayor Thomas Zenker (Zittau can do more) on Friday. City officials called the police to get the situation under control. The far-right Freie Sachsen had called for the demonstration.
“Not least because of the prudent behavior of the mayor and the local mayor of Hirschfelde, the situation was finally calmed down to the extent that people left the hall without police intervention and those who remained there were able to talk to the mayor,” said a police spokeswoman.
The Lord Mayor said: “It was clearly visible that people who, as residents, wanted to get rid of their questions and concerns, were being abused by the Free Saxony and similar units for their politics.”
Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) spoke of an alarm signal. “Our goal is to prepare the mayors on site for such situations as best as possible and to support them in every respect. That’s why we will continue to develop our protection concept for officials and elected officials and, with the expert network, intensify the close coordination between the municipality and the police again,” said Schuster of the German Press Agency. He is very grateful to Zenker. His behavior is a good example of how calmly and courageously one can deal with such situations.
Many municipalities in Germany are currently faced with the problem of having to accommodate more refugees again. On the other hand, there is some local protest. Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer said on Deutschlandfunk on Friday that refugee accommodation is reaching its limits everywhere in Germany. The municipalities lacked the apartments to house the people.
