BRUSSELS
At least 4,000 people protested Monday against the first rally in Sweden held by German far-right movement Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, or PEGIDA, according to local media.
The anti-Islam movement only managed to gather eight people in the country's third largest city, Malmo, in southern Sweden on Monday. It was met with at least 4,000 demonstrators, according to local police.
Local media reported that the latter were shouting: ''No to racism on our streets!''
Police officer Ewa-Gun Westford told local reporters at the scene that only up to eight people showed up for PEGIDA.
Spokesman for the PEGIDA branch in Sweden Henrik Ronnquist addressed the low turnout in a speech, saying: "What’s important is not how many of us are here, but how many support us in the country."
A series of arson attacks were launched against mosques across Sweden in December last year, and were followed by protests condemning these attacks.
About 70 people took part in a PEGIDA rally in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Jan.19 and about 200 took part in the Danish capital of Copenhagen on Jan.19, according to local Swedish media.
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