By IRNA,
Berlin : A member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is facing criticism by his party for inviting Geert Wilders, the notorious anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker, to Berlin to hold a speech in fall, news reports said on Thursday.
Rene Stadtkewitz, a Christian Democratic legislator in Berlin’s state parliament, vowed to press ahead with his invitation to Wilders amid threats to kick him out of the party.
He said he would meet Wilders in the German capital on October 2 to discuss ways of what Stadtkewitz termed “fighting political Islam.”
“I won’t cancel the invitation for Wilders. That would go against my fundamental political convictions,” added Stadtkewitz, who provided no details of any public appearances.
Meanwhile, Frank Henkel, who heads the CDU parliamentary faction in Berlin, warned that Stadtkewitz could be expelled from the caucus if he did not call off the visit by Wilders.
Stadtkewitz cancelled his CDU party membership in 2009 in protest at a fellow CDU member who has tried to reach out to Berlin’s Muslim community, but remains a member of the CDU faction in the state parliament.
The Islamophobic politician has also actively campaigned against plans for building the most recent mosque in Berlin’s Heinersdorf district.