Thousands rally against immigration in Bratislava

Thousands of people protested against immigration and EU quotas on migrant numbers at a rally organised by an anti-Islam movement in Bratislava on Saturday.

The rally organised by a group called Stop the Islamisation of Europe drew up to 8,000 people, according to Slovakian media, while the police declined to give an estimate.

Protesters included Marian Kotleba, the governor of a central Slovakian region and founder of the far-right People's Party Our Slovakia.

"I wish you a nice, white day... we are here to save Slovakia," Kotleba told the crowd.

The protest was called after the European Commission said in May that Slovakia, an EU and NATO member of 5.4 million people, should accept 471 migrants from Italy and 314 from Greece.

One of the protesters was taken into custody after using tear gas against the police, and the crowd also shredded the blue EU flag offered by one of the speakers.
Riot police also stepped in to separate the protesters from about 200 people planning to block the rally.

On Friday, Prime Minister Robert Fico and his counterparts from neighbouring Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland affirmed that their countries were against quotas on refugee numbers imposed by the EU.

A June poll by the Focus opinion research agency, published on Saturday, showed Slovaks perceived the current wave of migrants heading to Europe as the hottest international topic, being mentioned by almost 22 percent of 1,018 respondents.

"The vast majority of the Slovak public... perceives migrants as a security risk for the country, or as an economic or social burden," said Focus head Martin Slosiarik.