The head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) on Saturday called for a law banning “fascistic Islam” and Muslim symbols, comparable to an existing law banning Nazi symbols, saying Islam could wipe out European society. Austria needs “a law which prohibits fascistic Islam”, Heinz Christian Strache told several thousand supporters at the party’s new year meeting in Salzburg. The junior coalition party OVP called on Wednesday for halving the number of asylum applications accepted this year to around 17,000. The Freedom Party’s anti-Muslim message has been well-received by a large minority of Austria’s electorate. The party, which has long called for a ban on face veils, also called for changing the way refugees are taken care of.

Source: Huffington Post January 14, 2017 18:40 UTC