German leader: Far-right extremists remain threat

Associated Press

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says anti-Semitism and racism remain a threat to democracy in Europe almost 70 years after the end of World War II.

Merkel cited the ongoing trial of five alleged neo-Nazis over the killing of 10 people between 2000 and 2007, and the fact that Jewish schools and synagogues still require police protection, as evidence of the problem in Germany.

She says Germany and the rest of Europe need to be vigilant against far-right extremists who seek to spread a distorted account of history.

Merkel’s comments came Saturday in a weekly online address three days before a planned visit to the remains of the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau in southern Germany.

Almost six million European Jews were murdered in the Holocaust orchestrated by Germany’s Nazi party.