The brutal attack on the SPD MEP Matthias Ecke in Dresden caused horror across all parties. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described the attack on Saturday as a threat to democracy. FDP leader Christian Lindner complained about a “disinhibition in political debate.” Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was also “horrified”. According to the party, Ecke was seriously injured in the attack on Friday. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) proposed a special conference of interior ministers. She made a corresponding request to the current chairman of the Conference of Interior Ministers, Brandenburg’s department head Michael Stübgen (CDU), as the “Tagesspiegel” reported, citing government circles.
On Saturday, Faeser had already declared it urgent to convene a conference quickly. “The constitutional state must and will respond to this with tough action and further protective measures for the democratic forces in our country,” she said, referring to the violent attacks on several politicians.
Meanwhile, two alliances called for this Sunday under the motto “Violence has no place in our democracy!” to spontaneous demonstrations in Berlin and Dresden.
In Berlin there will be a protest in front of the Brandenburg Gate from 6 p.m., in Dresden from 5 p.m. at Pohlandplatz, as stated in the Instagram posts published on Saturday evening by the Internet portal “Together Against the Right” and the alliance “We are the Firewall Dresden”. The alliances had already called for demonstrations against the right in February.
According to police, the attack on Ecke took place on Friday evening in the Dresden district of Striesen. A group of four initially attacked a 28-year-old who was putting up election posters for the Green Party. The unknown assailants beat and kicked the man, who sustained injuries.
Minutes later, the SPD politician Ecke, who was also putting up posters, was attacked and beaten on the same street – also by four unknown people. The police assume this is the same group. According to party information, the SPD Saxony’s top candidate for the European elections was seriously injured. Corner therefore needs to be operated on. The state security took over the further investigation. According to police, the four young men are estimated to be between 17 and 20 years old. According to witnesses, they were dressed in dark clothing, a police spokesman said. A witness assigned her to the right-wing spectrum. The investigation would show whether that was true.
The incidents in Dresden are part of a nationwide series of attacks on party members before the local and European elections on June 9th. Only on Thursday evening, after a Green Party event in Essen, Bundestag member Kai Gehring and his party colleague Rolf Fliß said they were attacked and Fliß was beaten. The Green Bundestag Vice President Katrin-Göring-Eckardt was aggressively harassed and prevented from leaving after an event in eastern Brandenburg a week ago. According to police, a member of the AfD state parliament was beaten at an information stand in Nordhorn, Lower Saxony, on Saturday morning.
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The target group of the attackers has shifted somewhat in recent years: in 2019, representatives of the AfD were primarily the target of hostility, but now it is the Greens. According to preliminary figures, 478 cases were recorded nationwide for the AfD in 2023, and 1,219 for the Greens. A total of 10,537 crimes were reported for all parties from 2019 to 2023, according to a government response to a small question from the AfD parliamentary group.
