Germany vows to fight violence against politicians after MEP seriously hurt

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The German interior minister Nancy Faeser has vowed to fight a surge in violence against politicians after a German member of the European parliament had to be taken to hospital following an attack while he was campaigning for re-election.

Matthias Ecke, 41, a member of Faeser's Social Democrats (SPD), was hit and kicked by a group of four people while putting up posters in Dresden, capital of the eastern state of Saxony, police said. An SPD source said his injuries would require an operation.

Shortly before, what appeared to be the same group attacked a 28-year-old campaigner for the Greens, who was also putting up posters, police said, although his injuries were not as serious.

"The constitutional state must and will respond to this with tough action and further protective measures for the democratic forces in our country," Faeser said in a statement, saying the attack on Ecke was also an "attack on democracy". She vowed "tough action and further protective measures" in response to the attacks.

European parliament president Roberta Metsola was one of many European politicians to sympathise with Ecke, saying in a post on X that she was "horrified by the vicious attack".

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: "Democracy is threatened by this kind of act."

He told a congress of European socialist parties in Berlin that such attacks result from "the atmosphere created from pitting people against each other".

"We must never accept such acts of violence … we must oppose it together."

Saxony premier Michael Kretschmer, a conservative, said such aggression and attempts at intimidation recalled the darkest era of German history, a reference to Nazi rule.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, a former German conservative minister, and the Maltese head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, both condemned the attack on Ecke.

"The culprits must be brought to account," Von der Leyen said on X.

Nationwide, the number of attacks on politicians of parties represented in parliament has doubled since 2019, according to government figures published in January. Faeser said the verbal hostility of extremists and populists towards democratic politicians was partly responsible for the rise in violence.

The BfV domestic intelligence agency says far-right extremism is the biggest threat to German democracy.

A surge in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) over the past year has taken it to second place in nationwide polls. The AfD is particularly strong in the eastern states of Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. Surveys suggest it will come first in regional elections in all three this September.

Greens party politicians face the most aggression, according to government data. Attacks on them have risen sevenfold since 2019, to 1,219 last year. AfD politicians reported 478 attacks and the SPD 420.