MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The permission for Pegida to hold its rally, as well as for another group to hold a counter-demonstration, was withdrawn due to the "the latest findings and the current assessment of the situation," the police said, as quoted by Der Bund newspaper.
The cantonal police of Basel-Stadt had received "information about expected participation of several violent groups from both sides, both from home and from abroad," the statement read.
Pegida, an acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, began organizing rallies in its home city of Dresden in October 2014, attracting hundreds and later thousands of supporters.
The far-right German movement gained support in many member states of the European Union amid rising anti-migrant sentiment as Europe faces its biggest refugee crisis since World War II.
