In the eastern European city of Mannheim, the officials reported on Wednesday that a provincial candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany prospect was slashed with a box blade.
The incident occurred four weeks after a knife attack on members of an anti-Islam group in the same town, which raised concerns about more crime in the lead up to Sunday’s voting in Germany for the European Parliament, despite the police’s claim that it did not appear to remain politically motivated.
The assault on Tuesday occurred after the prospect, Heinrich Koch, who is running for provincial company in Mannheim, noticed a person” taking down and slashing” Alternative for Germany plan posters, according to Emil Sänze, a party spokesman in the state of Baden- Württemberg, which includes Mannheim.
After Mr. Koch confronted him, the man attacked Mr. Koch with a box cutter, Mr. Sänze said. Mr. Sänze claims that Mr. Koch was taken to a hospital for stitches on Tuesday night, but that he is expected to make a full recovery.
Mr. Sänze said that Mr. Koch had filmed the altercation, which helped the police to make an arrest.
A 25-year-old man who had” clear indications of a mental illness” had been detained and taken to a closed psychiatric ward, according to the Mannheim police. The suspect’s family did not, according to the police, realize that Mr. Koch was a member of Alternative for Germany, also known as AfD.
Following the earlier attack in Mannheim on Friday, when a man stabbed five people campaigning with a small anti-Islam group, political violence became more prevalent in Germany. A police officer who had attempted to intervene also suffered injuries and later died.
Politicians from other parties on the political spectrum are once more discussing how to deport people whose asylum cases have been rejected, while the AfD has since increased its criticism of the government’s refugee policies. An Afghan national who has resided in Germany for more than ten years is the suspect in the Friday attack.
Baden-Württemberg will hold the municipal elections in which Mr. Koch is a candidate on Sunday in addition to the vote for the European Parliament.
In recent weeks, German politicians and police have noticed an increase in violence against candidates and campaigns. Last month, Mathias Ecke, a European Parliament candidate for the Social Democrats, who lead Germany’s coalition government, was assaulted while hanging posters in Dresden, leaving him with a broken cheekbone and eye socket.
The article Far-Right Politician Attacked With Box Cutter in Germany first appeared in The New York Times.
