News about Germany

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German anti-Islam activist injured in knife attack

A man has attacked six people, including a police officer, with a knife at a market square in the south-west German city of Mannheim, police say.
One of the people injured was anti-Islam activist, Michael Stürzenberger, who had been preparing to hold a rally in the square, according to his group.
The incident was caught on a YouTube livestream and showed the attacker stabbing a man, and then a police officer who went to help. The officer is in a critical condition.
The attacker was shot and injured by another police officer.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the incident as “terrible”, and that his thoughts were with the victims.
He posted on X: “Violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy. The perpetrator must be severely punished.”
Police in Mannheim tweeted about a “major police operation” in the city’s market square and a rescue helicopter was sent to the scene.
One person attacked several others with a knife, injuring them, at 11:35 (10:35 BST), police said in a follow-up statement.
A firearm was then used against the attacker, it added.
The attack is understood to have happened at the same time as a rally in the market square hosted by far-right anti-Islam activist, Michael Stürzenberger, and his organisation the Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa (BPE).

That sense of self-awareness doesn’t seem to extend to the AfD, though.

There have been a series of incidents where AfD members have expressed far-right ideologies openly in Germany. Recently scandals have also seen members accused of spying for China and accepting bribes from Russia.

Björn Höcke, a regional leader for AfD in the eastern state of Thuringia, was fined €13,000 ($14,000) by a German court earlier in May for using banned Nazi slogans, according to CNN affiliate N-TV.

Höcke, a former history teacher, intends to run as the lead candidate for the AfD in the upcoming state elections in September, and is currently the clear favorite to win.

According to Blumenthaler, these incidents don’t appear to hurt the party, especially in Germany.

“After basically crashing the (far-right) European coalition, that really hurts the AfD on a European level, but I don’t really think that it will affect their electoral base here in Germany that much,” he added.

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