Alarm when German politicians attacked during the election campaign

Also on Tuesday, a Green Party politician, Yvonne Mosler, was harassed and allegedly spat on while hanging campaign material for June’s European elections.

All German states held a special meeting this week to discuss the rise in violence against politicians. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser promised to tighten assault laws to “punish anti-democratic acts more harshly.”

“Supposedly justified attacks”

A February report from the German Bundestag said there were 2,790 attacks on politicians in 2023, with more than a thousand of the incidents targeting the Greens.

Ms Giffey said she was shocked by the attack but otherwise “good” as she condemned a “fair game culture in which politically active and engaged people in our country are increasingly subjected to supposedly justified and acceptable attacks.”

German police said they had identified Ms Giffey’s attacker but gave no further details.

Officials have also arrested four suspected right-wing extremists aged between 17 and 18 over the attack on Mr Ecke last week.