"Right-wing spectrum"

Unknown persons beat SPD politician until he is hospitalized

Matthias Ecke is his party's top EU candidate in Saxony.

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Heiko Rebsch/dpa)

German MEP Matthias Ecke (SPD) has been attacked and beaten until he was ready for hospitalization while putting up posters in the Striesen district of Dresden. His party speaks of a new dimension of "anti-democratic violence". Ecke was seriously injured in the attack on the street.

While putting up election posters for the SPD late on Friday evening, four unidentified men attacked the 41-year-old, police said on Saturday. He had to receive medical treatment in hospital. The politician had to undergo surgery. He is said to have suffered broken bones in his face. Witnesses attributed the perpetrators to the "right-wing spectrum", it said.

SPD sees "deceitful" attack
According to the SPD, there were further attempts at intimidation, destruction of posters and insults by other poster teams. The federal chairpersons Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil strongly condemned the attack on the Saxon MEP.

The incident is said to have taken place in the Striesen district.

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Lucas Friedenhain/dpa)

"This insidious attack affects our entire party. It is an attack on all campaigners who passionately stand up for our democracy and the rule of law," it said in a statement on Saturday. "The perpetrators want to intimidate us as representatives of a democratic society. But they will never succeed." It is expected that the crime will be solved and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Interior Minister speaks of attack
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser strongly condemned the attack on MEP Ecke. "If a politically motivated attack on MEP Matthias Ecke is confirmed just a few weeks before the European elections, then this serious act of violence is also a serious attack on democracy," Faeser said on Saturday. "We are experiencing a new dimension of anti-democratic violence here."

At the same time, she announced that the rule of law would take tough action. She added that extremists and populists, who are fomenting an increasing climate of violence with completely unrestrained verbal hostility towards democratic politicians, are partly responsible for the increasing frequency of attacks.

Tough action called for
"The constitutional state must and will respond to this with tough action and further protective measures for the democratic forces in our country. I will discuss this very quickly with the interior ministers of the federal states."

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (also SPD) wrote on X on Saturday: "All democratic parties must stand against violence. The truth is that the AfD has been sowing hatred and incitement for years in a way that we have never seen before in politics; it causes violence."

The search is on for the perpetrators
According to the police, minutes earlier a group of four had also attacked a 28-year-old Green Party campaign worker while he was putting up posters. The perpetrators punched and kicked him, and the 28-year-old was also injured. Due to the matching descriptions of the individuals and the proximity in terms of time and location, the state security investigators assume that the same perpetrators were involved in both cases.