BERLIN: Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday condemned a “cowardly” act after a senior figure in his party was struck over the head in a Berlin library, the latest in a string of attacks on politicians in a polarising climate in Germany gears up for elections.
The attack on Tuesday coincided with an emergency meeting of state ministers calling for greater police protection of politicians as the number of verbal and physical assaults has soared ahead of European and local elections this year.
On the same day in a separate incident, two people were arrested in the city of Dresden after a member of the Greens party was shoved and spat at while putting up campaign posters, two of which were torn down, police said. Earlier the two suspects were seen in a group of people nearby and were heard shouting Hitler salutes, police said. Giffey condemned a “fair game culture” targeting politicians but also warned against walling off elected officials from ordinary citizens. “I like taking the underground, I like being out and about, I like speaking to people, I like approaching people. And I would like to hold onto this. This is my city,” she said. The incidents occurred days after another member of Scholz’s Social Democrats, Matthias Ecke, was kicked and beaten while putting up posters in an attack that left him needing surgery.