Scholz calls on Germans to “vote” against attacks on politicians

“That is why we cannot stand idly by while our officials, campaigners or volunteers are brutally attacked. When campaign posters for the European elections are destroyed.”

“The answer that each of us can give is very simple: go vote,” he said.

Two politicians from Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) were attacked last week.

Matthias Ecke, chairman of the SPD’s Saxon European electoral list, was attacked by a group of young people last Friday as he was hanging up election posters in Dresden.

According to German media, the four young attackers are said to have connections to the right-wing extremist group “Elblandrevolte”.

Former Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey was in a library on Tuesday afternoon when a man came up to her from behind and hit her on the head and neck with a bag.

The increasing frequency of attacks has led to calls for tougher action against those who target politicians.

Scholz also targeted the AfD in his podcast.

Without mentioning the party by name, the Chancellor took strong action against those who called for “Germany to leave the European Union”.

“Our united Europe is too precious to be left to those who want to destroy it.”

The AfD, which wants to dismantle the EU in its current form, is among the far-right parties across Europe expected to make gains in June elections.

According to opinion polls, the anti-immigration party in Germany is expected to win around 15 percent of the vote, putting it tied with the Greens in second place behind the conservative CDU-CSU alliance.

The AfD has been hit by several recent scandals in Germany, including allegations of suspicious ties to Russia and China.

In the podcast, Scholz criticized those who “see (President Vladimir) Putin’s Russia or (President) Xi Jinping’s China as role models for Europe.”

“What self-destructive madness!” he said.

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