How Saxony's Government Plans To Compete With PEGIDA

As the anti-Islamization PEGIDA movement gains momentum, Saxony's political establishment is on the defensive. The interior ministry has turned to Twitter to boost support for asylum-seekers in the eastern German state.



Should establishment politicians talk to representatives of the PEGIDA movement? Yes, say conservative politicians in the eastern German state of Saxony. "We need to make a greater effort to enter into conversation with the demonstrators," state premier Stanislaw Tillich said.



In the capital Dresden, where many thousands have taken part in the demonstrations, Mayor Helma Orosz has offered to engage in dialog with the group, whose name stands for "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West."



The only problem is, PEGIDA doesn't want to discuss anything. At protest marches, participants are advised not to talk to journalists, who have been largely scathing toward the group. Fearing ambush, the organizers reject invitations to the most important television talk shows and give interviews only very rarely. There was no response to a written request from