Almost every day there is an attack on a candidate in the campaign. On Wednesday evening, two members of the far-right (AfD) were attacked in front of the regional parliament located in Stuttgart. They accuse “left-wing extremists” of having “hit” them. Videos of the incident show a gang of young activists insulting them. Other images filmed on Tuesday by public television in a city in Dresden prove the attack suffered by an environmentalist candidate. Two people dressed in black spit in his face, tear up his election signs, while giving the Hitler salute. Arrested in the process, they are affiliated with the identity movement. Like the four teenagers, members of the Nationalist Youth, who beat up Social Democratic MEP Matthias Ecke last Friday, also in a street in the Saxon capital.
Like a “Weimar air”…
The representatives of the “Grünen” are the victims of insults the most, those of the AfD are the subject of the greatest number of physical attacks, according to statistics presented on Wednesday by the federal police. Results: 27 physical attacks directed against politicians last year and already 22 this year. These serial attacks give a “Weimar air” to the German electoral campaign. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius denounced “attacks reminiscent of those of the SA”, the Nazi paramilitary troops. These different cases feed on a nauseating breeding ground fueled by hate speech from the far right but also, more broadly, by stronger polarization within German society.
“Politicians are like game,” commented the former mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, herself hit on the head on Tuesday by an unbalanced man, a 74-year-old retiree. On the same day, the interior ministers of the federal state and the Länder spoke out in favor of a rapid reaction from the judiciary and the examination of a tightening of criminal law. So far, articles relating to coercion or harassment do not concern local and European politicians, only regional or national MPs.
+ 53% of crimes committed against elected officials in 2023
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reported a 53% increase in crimes committed against elected officials last year. A spokesperson for the police union (GdP) said it was ready to make election protests more secure with an increased presence. Franziska Giffey is now escorted by three bodyguards. But there cannot be an agent behind each candidate or each poster hanger. The policewoman added: “The parties must slow down their aggressive communication.” Invectives are followed by gestures.
