ANGELA Merkel’s support with European citizens has plunged as Russian strongman Vladimir Putin raced ahead in a new popularity poll
This latest survey has shown Merkel’s support among voters in the Czech Republic has slipped to 18 per cent from a level of 70 per cent last year as the chancellor visits Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and President Milos Zeman in Prague to discuss the migrant crisis.
Czechs are put off by the 62-year-old’s “welcome policy” towards migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, according to the poll by German newspaper Die Welt.
Up to one million refugees surged into Germany last year.
Protesters lined the streets as Merkel entered Prague, demanding the chancellor steps down over her role in the migrant crisis.
One angry demonstrator told local media: “I read in the newspaper that she’s coming. “But honestly speaking, I don’t need her here. “We’ve all had enough here of Mrs Merkel.”
The shocking figures come after a suspected assassination attempt was foiled in the Czech capital on Thursday.
Czech officers stopped an armed man in a black 4x4 Mercedes as he tried to infiltrate the German Chancellor’s motorcade during her visit.
Police spokesman Josef Bocan said: “The perpetrator has been detained. “He is suspected of attempting to cause a crime – specifically an attempt to use violence against an official.”
Officers found a baton, a canister of tear gas and handcuffs in the suspect’s car.
The suspected assassination attempt comes as countries across Europe are on high alert following a string of high-profile terror attacks over the past few months.
And the beleaguered chancellor has been urged to listen to voters after it was revealed a whopping 81 per cent of Germans want to ban the burka.
