After the attacks on politicians and campaign workers in Saxony, there is great consternation in politics. It is an attack on democracy, they say.
After the attack on the Saxon SPD top candidate Matthias Ecke and a Green Party campaign worker, numerous politicians spoke out and strongly condemned the attacks.
“The attack on Matthias Ecke is an unmistakable alarm signal to all people in this country of ours. Our democratic values are under attack,” said the chairmen of the Saxon SPD, Henning Homann and Kathrin Michel, in a statement. “The seeds that the AfD and other right-wing extremists have sown are growing. Their supporters are now completely disinhibited and apparently view us Democrats as fair game when exercising their basic rights. Any trivialization is forbidden,” they said.
The SPD federal chairmen Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil also strongly condemned the attack. “This insidious attack affects our entire party. It is an attack on all election campaigners who passionately support our democracy and the rule of law,” it said in a statement on Saturday.
“New dimension of anti-democratic violence”
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) also spoke out and said she had already been in contact with Ecke. “If a politically motivated attack is confirmed a few weeks before the European elections, then this serious act of violence is also a serious attack on democracy. We are experiencing a new dimension of anti-democratic violence here.” She announced tough action against the attackers.
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) was horrified: “The attack on SPD leading candidate Matthias Ecke horrifies me deeply and cannot be justified by anything.” We will resolutely defend fair election advertising. “We know attacks and intimidation from political competitors from the darkest eras of our history,” explained Kretschmer.
“Each individual case will be meticulously investigated and consistently pursued. The State Security Department of the Criminal Investigation Department has started investigating this. Each of these attacks affects us all; it is about nothing less than our free, equal, general, direct and secret elections,” said the Saxon Ministry of the Interior on Saturday.
The SPD Labor Minister Hubertus Heil wrote on X: “I am angry and horrified by this act of violence, which is also an attack on democracy.” Saxony’s Economics Minister Martin Dulig explains on the platform: “I simply cannot believe how much hatred and contempt for humanity the right-wingers now have in our country.”
From the perspective of Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left), the attack on Matthias Ecke is a result of hatred and fake news. “The attack is on all of us,” he said on Saturday on the X platform, formerly Twitter. If fake news were made the truth, everyone would be affected, he continued. And: “Full solidarity with Matthias Ecke!”
Green politician Madeleine Henfling made a similar statement on X: “Hate and incitement lead to such attacks and thus endanger human lives.” Everyone in the democratic spectrum is now called upon to show solidarity.
