Attacks in the election campaign
Interior ministers are considering tougher penalties for violence against politicians
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (r.) next to Sachsen’s Senator for the Interior Andy Grote
© Georg Wendt / DPA
Before the European elections, the mood in Germany is simmering. In some places it takes the form of attacks on politicians. That’s not how it works, say the interior ministers of the federal states.
The federal and state interior ministers want to better protect politicians and volunteers from violence in the upcoming election campaigns with the help of the police and a possible tightening of criminal law. In order to send “a very clear stop signal” here, not only the security authorities but also the judiciary are required to provide quick and consistent procedures and punishments, said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Tuesday evening after a video conference that took place after a brutal attack on an SPD -Politician had been scheduled in Dresden. If criminal law needs to be further tightened, she will discuss this with Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP).
The chairman of the Conference of Interior Ministers, Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU), said that the department heads supported two corresponding Federal Council initiatives from Bavaria and Saxony. On Tuesday, the Saxon cabinet approved a Federal Council initiative to tighten penalties for attacks on politicians and election workers. This is intended to protect decision-makers, especially at the local level, from threatening attacks on their private lives.
The interior ministers are calling on the Federal Ministry of the Interior to work quickly to deal with a Bavarian Federal Council initiative to protect charitable activities under criminal law. This means that attacks on politically active people should be punished more severely. In the ministers’ joint resolution, the Conference of Justice Ministers is also asked to examine whether “the deliberate spread of disinformation with the aim of influencing elections or escalating violence constitutes injustice worthy of punishment.”
The trigger was an attack on SPD candidates in Dresden
The department heads condemned “in the strongest possible terms any attacks on politically active people who are committed to living democracy in Germany and who deserve the highest recognition, respect and protection,” as the resolution states.
Matthias Ecke, the SPD’s leading candidate for the European elections in Saxony, was beaten up on Friday by four young men aged 17 and 18 when he tried to put up election posters. The Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA) attributes at least one of the attackers to the right-wing spectrum. Shortly before the beating attack on Ecke, according to the police, the same group had probably injured a Green campaign worker nearby.
Statistics show more crimes against MPs
According to Faeser, there were 2,710 crimes against elected officials in 2023, 53 percent more than in the previous year. She emphasized: “Attacks against AfD politicians are also unacceptable.” She spoke of an “escalation of anti-democratic violence.” The minister said: “We must also clearly identify the shared responsibility of those who, especially from the right-wing fringe, attacked and defamed people who were increasingly uninhibited and unscrupulous.” This spiral of hatred and violence must be stopped.
Hamburg’s Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD) called on citizens to inform the police, including about the destruction of election posters. Although the tightening of laws was not the focus of the discussions, it could be that “we also take another look at the legal level of protection.”
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) encouraged those affected to contact the police as early as possible. He said no one should have to put up with insults and threats. Early intervention is important to prevent subsequent crimes. According to Herrmann, the department heads have agreed to talk at the next regular conference of interior ministers in June about whether additional efforts may be needed to ensure the protection of everyone involved around the upcoming state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in the fall.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for solidarity with Democrats. “Democracy needs a political culture that is free from hatred and agitation and especially free from violence,” said Steinmeier in Müncheberg in Brandenburg. The security authorities must do everything necessary to track down the criminals and the courts must bring the perpetrators to justice. “But this also means that we stand behind those who fulfill their responsibilities as democrats and show our complete disgust to those who violate the democratic rules of the game.”