Dalai Lama and Political Ties

France Germany: Marking the beginning of a three day visit to the state of Hesse, he highlighted how conflict between France and Germany had eventually turned into friendship with the forging of economic and political ties following World War II. The visit is part of celebrations to mark the spiritual leader 80th birthday, which was last Monday, according to Deutsche Welle. Acknowledging the current euro crisis, the Dalai Lama hoped that an agreement would be reached between all parties soon, suggesting that the deadlock was essentially about money. In a speech to several thousand supporters in the German city of Wiesbaden, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism he said he hoped Asia and Africa would follow Europe example. Greeted by angry protests His visit was once again marred by protesters from a fundamentalist Buddhist group shouting waving banners describing him as the "False Dalai Lama" as he left his hotel to give his speech. Their rally was backed up by a social media campaign. Members of the International Shugden Community have accused him of marginalizing their organization amid accusations that their faction of Buddhism is a cult. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.