Christian Democrats (CDU)

A rally against racism and xenophobia on Jan. 10 drew tens of thousands of people in the eastern German city of Dresden, which  has become the centre of anti-immigration protests organised by a new grassroots movement called PEGIDA.
   
"We won't permit that hate will divide us", Dresden's mayor Helma Orosz said in front of the 18th-century Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady).

A senior member of Angela Merkel’s party has warned the European Central Bank not to pour money into Greece and other struggling eurozone states through bond purchases, saying this would reduce pressure on them to enact much-needed reforms.

Lawmakers at the German Parliament, the Bundestag, have backed the establishment of a minimum wage level in the country.

A fixed national threshold of EUR 8.50 per hour is due to be fully in force from 2017, with partial introduction as early as January 1, 2015, German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.